


That's Where I'm Calling From

by Atlantis_Jackson



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:37:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atlantis_Jackson/pseuds/Atlantis_Jackson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s <i>my</i> fault,” Danny said as if he’d just had a revelation. “They’re both freaks so it’s my fault.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's Where I'm Calling From

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All I Need (is someone to help me find my way)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/35208) by merrov. 



> This is a sequel to Merrov’s fic All I Need (Is Someone To Help Me Find My Way). Written with permission of course. The title of this story is a line from the same song she used for the title of her story. The song is Calling Fairbanks Collect by Pat Fitzgerald and Robin Dale Ford.  
> Seriously guys, I suck! A lot! And very hard! I have had this damn thing written for about two years! I’ve finally gotten around to posting it! I hope you enjoy it. I know some people have asked about it. I hope I’ve made it worth the wait!

Steve groaned and arched his back, taking Danny in further, “harder,” he demanded breathily. 

Danny pressed his fingers into Steve’s hips as he pounded into Steve relentlessly. “Say it, Steve, tell me what you want.”

Steve gasped as Danny wrapped his hand around Steve’s cock and squeezed tightly, keeping him from coming until he said it. “Make me pregnant,” Steve groaned and pressed himself further onto Danny’s dick. The whole pregnancy kink had started as Steve’s, but Danny had quickly adopted it. They didn’t play this game every time they had sex, but the times they did seemed to make it more intense. They both knew it was never going to happen, but it was fun to play with and it took both their pleasure higher than either man thought possible.

Danny sighed and loosened his hold on Steve’s cock, stroking lightly as he continued fucking Steve. “We’re going to do it, Steve,” Danny said as he stroked Steve faster to match the thrusting of his hips. “I’m going to fill your belly up. You’re going to have my baby.”

Steve moaned his pleasure as he came over Danny’s hand, clamping down hard on his cock. Danny grunted and thrust through the tight muscle, and a moment later Steve felt him coming. 

“Fuck, babe,” Danny said as he collapsed onto Steve. Steve’s legs were still wrapped around Danny’s waist and Danny was still in him, his softening cock easing the transition from full to empty. “That was…”

“Amazing,” Steve finished for him. “It gets better every time.” 

“I was just thinking that.” Danny finally slipped out and he rolled off of Steve and lay beside him. “Damn, you know, sometimes I look at you and wonder what the fuck I did right.”

“What?” Steve asked and cuddled into Danny’s side, not worrying about the cooling come just yet. 

“You’re beautiful, and complicated in all the right ways, Steve. I’m lucky to have you.”

“We’re both lucky. How many guys do you think would put up with, let alone accept this thing? Not very many and you not only accept it, you actually get into it.”

“Well fuck, Steve, it’s hot as hell,” Danny said as he untangled himself from Steve’s limbs and went into the bathroom. “I think about it sometimes, you know,” he continued a moment later when he returned with a wet washcloth.

“About what?” Steve asked, rolling onto his back to let Danny clean him up. He always did that these days, took care of Steve’s mess rather than toss the cloth on him for him to take care of himself.

“You being pregnant,” Danny told him. He slid back into the bed and covered them with the blanket, letting Steve snuggle back in close once he was cleaned up. “I imagine you with a round belly, sitting on the couch with an iced tea and a bag of Funions.”

“I hate Funions, Danny, you know that.”

“Yeah, but you never know what a pregnant man might crave,” Danny replied.

“Not Funions.”

“Whatever. Steve, I have this image and that’s what I see when we do this.”

Steve sighed and curled in closer. “Yeah, but you know it’s never going to happen, right?”

“Of course I know that, I’m not delusional. I’m not opposed to another baby, Steve, but if I really wanted one I wouldn’t be with a guy.”

Steve smiled and leaned up to kiss Danny, soft and sweet on the lips. He didn’t know why that particular sentence made him so happy, but it did. “Love you,” he said and laid his head back on Danny’s shoulder.

“Love you too, babe,” Danny replied and kissed the top of Steve’s head.

\---

Steve waved Danny on and ducked behind a stack of pallets just in time to be out of the public eye before he threw up his breakfast. He was still dry heaving when he heard the sound of distant gun shots and he steadied himself enough to follow them. He found Danny standing above the man they’d been chasing, a gun still clutched in his fist and he beamed with pride to see the two holes at center mass. Danny had been a shoot in the leg kind of guy until Steve got hold of him, and now he shot first and asked questions later when he perceived a threat. 

“You okay?” Danny asked as Chin and Kono caught up to them.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Steve lied. His stomach had been bothering him for the last week, and he’d thrown up more times than he cared to admit, but he chocked it up to some kind of stomach flu. He was completely ignoring the fact that he didn’t have a fever or any other symptoms; he was too busy to let himself be bedridden. 

“Well, you don’t look okay.”

“Yeah boss, you kind of look like shit,” Kono added helpfully.

“Thanks for caring,” Steve said sarcastically. “Call this in and get the body taken care of, I think we’re all due a day off.”

“Yes, sir,” Chin said and pulled out his phone.

\---

Steve was laying on the couch in his office when Danny came in.

“You sleeping on the job?” Danny asked playfully. Steve just groaned and shook his head. He still felt like shit, and he wondered where he caught whatever it was that he had. None of his team had been sick, and he hadn’t seen Kathryn since he got serious with Danny. 

Danny rustled a bag and immediately Steve was accosted with the worst smell of earth. His stomach began churning and he looked to see what Danny had. “What is that?” he asked before Danny had a chance to pull whatever it was out of the bag. 

“Puka dog,” he said around a mouthful. “You said they were good so I decided to try it. You were right, it’s amazing.” 

Steve cleared his throat lightly and closed his eyes in an effort to calm his stomach. 

“I got you one too, you haven’t been eating lately. Here,” Danny said and held out a second dog, inches from Steve’s face.

“Fuck,” Steve spat. He knocked Danny’s hand away and hurried out of the office and into the bathroom. When he came back out to the office, Danny was on the floor with a wad of paper towels cleaning the Puka dog off the floor.

“You could have just said ‘no thank you,’ you didn’t have to throw it on the floor,” Danny complained.

Steve didn’t reply to that, he just pulled a bottle of water out of his mini-fridge and drank half of it in one go. 

“Don’t throw that away in here!” Steve ordered when Danny moved to discard the wasted food in his trash can. But instead of leaving the office, Danny just dropped the food and paper towels into the empty bag on Steve’s desk.

“You got sick again, didn’t you?” Danny asked as he moved back over to the couch and sat down.

Steve drank the rest of his water and pulled out a second bottle, not bothering to answer Danny’s question.

“You know,” Danny began, pausing to take another huge bite of his Puka dog. Steve couldn’t watch, so he sat down in his chair and turned away until Danny was finished. “This isn’t unlike Rachel’s morning sickness.”

Steve risked turning to glare at Danny, happy to see the last of the dog shoved into Danny’s mouth. “What?” He demanded.

“Well, when Rachel was pregnant with Grace, I had to eat out most of the time because just the smell of food made her sick.”

“I’m not fucking pregnant, Danny,” Steve spat. “I’m a guy, remember?”

“I remember, and I know you’re not pregnant. I was just saying, this is a lot like that.”

“And why would you even bring it up?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well don’t. Don’t ever do it again because it’s ridiculous. I’ve just got some bug.”

“Okay,” Danny agreed.

“And don’t ever say anything like that in front of the others. That’s the last thing I need.”

“Don’t worry babe,” Danny said. “I’m not saying anything to anyone.”

“Good,” he said and looked up as Chin and Kono walked through the door. Steve sighed and pushed his nausea away, it was time to get back to work. “Danny,” he said as he started to leave the office. “Don’t forget your trash.”

\---

“Alright, Steve, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Danny asked as Steve came out of the bathroom for the fifth time.

“I got a bug,” he replied as he sat back down on the couch and picked up his beer.

“I think that’s enough of that, if you are sick you need to stay hydrated,” Danny said as he took the bottle out of Steve’s hand.

Steve glared at him, he hadn’t actually said ‘it’s not good for the baby,’ but Steve heard it anyway. It wasn’t the first time Danny had played that Steve was pregnant, and he doubted it would be the last.

“For crying out loud, Steven. Don’t look at me that way, I know what you think I’m thinking, and that’s not it at all. I’m just trying to take care of you because you are _obviously_ sick. Seriously, I almost gagged hearing you in there the last time. It’s disgusting.”

“Sorry, I’ll try to puke more quietly.”

“How about you just try not to puke?”

“That’s an even better plan, but I don’t…” Steve closed his mouth and swallowed hard.

“Oh god, not again,” Danny grumbled and helped Steve off the couch and toward the bathroom.

\---

“The doctor said I was fine, Danny,” Steve argued as Danny fluffed his pillow and tucked him in.

“What doctor did you go to? Because you are certainly _not_ fine.”

Steve sighed and allowed himself to be fussed over until Danny was satisfied that his pillow was fluffy enough and that he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed without a crowbar to loosen the blankets. “I haven’t thrown up in a while, I’m getting better.”

“A while? Steve you threw up yesterday,” Danny protested. 

“Once, which is a vast improvement over what it had been. I’m fine, Danny, please stop fussing.”

“I’m not fussing,” Danny said and immediately stopped poking at the pillow under Steve’s head. “Look, it’s been almost a month and you’re still sick, whatever you have isn’t a bug. You haven’t even lost any weight, not that you need to, but you’ve thrown up enough to have gone down at least a couple pant sizes. Your clothes aren’t any baggier than they always are. There is something definitely wrong with you.”

“Hey,” Steve said softly and reached out to take Danny’s hand. He didn’t know what was going on in Danny’s mind, but the look on his face said it wasn’t anything good. “I’m fine, I promise. The doctor said it was probably just stress.”

Danny sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You have been stressed lately.”

“Yeah, we all have. We’re just dealing with it in different ways. I’d been feeling off for about a week before I started getting sick, I was probably coming down with something anyway and the stress just got my immune system all screwy.” He knew it sounded like bullshit even as he said it, but if it helped Danny feel better he’d live with sounding like an idiot.

“I guess. I just worry.”

“I know. You always have, but I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Danny sighed.

Steve knew that wasn’t the end of it, but at least Danny had dropped it for now. All the talking and the jostling of being tucked in had his stomach upset again, and all he wanted to do was take a nap.

\---

Steve woke to Danny poking his naked stomach with one finger. It was still dark outside and the clock on the nightstand said it was only three in the morning. “Not now, Danny, I’m sleeping,” Steve said and turned over onto his side, wrapping the blanket tightly around him. His eyes snapped open a moment later as he realized what he’d said. Danny had woken him up at all hours before, ready for sex and Steve had done the same to Danny. Neither of them had ever turned it down, no matter what time it was. 

He rolled onto his back and looked at Danny’s worried face.

“Steve,” Danny whispered.

“I know, Danny. I… I don’t know-”

“I think you should go to the doctor.”

“What? Just because I’m not in the mood for sex?”

Danny just looked at him for a long moment. “No, Steven, because you’ve been sick for almost three months and…” he trailed off, looking out into the dark room.

“And what, Danny?” Steve asked, irritated. 

“And… I think there’s something wrong.” 

“You’ve been saying that for a while now.”

“Yes, and you haven’t done anything about it. You went to the doctor once.”

“And he said I was fine.”

“You’re not fine, Steve. Your belly is-”

“Oh please!” Steve said, suddenly angry. He flipped the blanket back and got up, moving around the bed to turn the light on. He glared at Danny who was still sitting on the bed, his back to Steve now, “I’m not fucking pregnant. Danny, I thought you weren’t delusional.”

“I’m not, Steve,” Danny shouted back and finally turned around to face him. “You’ve been sick; you haven’t been able to hold down food, your stomach is starting to swell-”

“All signs of pregnancy.” Steve cut him off. “Danny, you need help.”

“Yes, those all happen to be signs of pregnancy, but there’s one big thing holding that back. You’re a guy, Steve. I think…” He took a deep breath and sighed it out. “Look, I’ve done a little research, webMD mostly, but everything I found says that…” he paused again and looked down at his lap.

“Spit it out,” Steve demanded.

Danny looked up at him, his eyes hard but his face full of concern, “You could have stomach cancer, Steve. There might be a tumor growing in your stomach and that’s why you can’t eat and why it’s swelling.”

Steve looked at Danny, took in the lines of worry that had appeared around his mouth and forehead, the dark circles under his eyes, and he felt like an immense asshole. Danny was really worried about him and Steve had called him delusional. Everything inside him felt tight and painful as he watched Danny just sitting there, looking back at him. “Danny…” he sighed and took a step forward. He wasn’t sure what to say and all of a sudden, he was scared. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been afraid, but he was now.

“Steve, come back to bed,” Danny said and held his hand out to Steve. 

He wasn’t sure he could move, it felt like his muscles had turned to jelly. But then Danny was there, wrapping his arms around Steve and pulling him in close. 

“I’m sorry, I should have told you that in a nicer way.”

Steve looked at him and the words were in his mind, but that’s as far as they went. He wanted to tell Danny that it wasn’t his fault, that Steve hadn’t given him the chance to tell him nicely. “Danny,” Steve finally managed.

“It’s okay, Steve,” Danny helped him over to the bed and eased him down onto it. “I’ll take care of you, we’ll make you an appointment tomorrow and we’ll find out what’s going on. It might not be stomach cancer, maybe it’s something else. It might be harmless.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, he didn’t think so but then he hadn’t thought about the possibility of stomach cancer either. This was something that could potentially kill him. After all the life threatening situations he’d been in and gotten out of, all the faraway places where he could have lost his life, he was going to die screaming in agony in his father’s house. 

He shuddered but Danny was right there with him, wrapping his arms around Steve and pulling him close. 

“We’re going to be okay, Steve. I promise.”

Steve relaxed in Danny’s arms, but the seed had been planted, he knew he wasn’t going to sleep any more tonight.

\---

“Well, there’s definitely a mass there,” Dr. Keli’i said as he pressed on Steve’s exposed stomach. “Your stomach is firm and tight. Tell me, Steve, have you been regular lately?”

Danny made a sound and Steve looked up at him. “He comes in here and tells you that he might have stomach cancer and all you want to know is how often he’s taken a crap?” Danny said, unbelieving.

“Detective Williams, his stomach is hard and swollen, stomach cancer isn’t the only cause, he could have a massive blockage in his intestines.” He looked back down at Steve and pressed firmly on his stomach again, “does this hurt?”

“Only because you’re pressing hard enough to make it hurt,” Steve replied with a grunt.

“So it’s not tender to the touch?”

Steve thought back to how he’d insisted Danny fuck him that morning, how he’d had his legs draped over Danny’s shoulders, his stomach smashed between his hips and his chest and shook his head. “No, not tender.”

“Okay then, I’m going to order you an ultrasound.”

Steve grunted and glared at the doctor, but the man just laughed.

“They aren’t just for pregnant women, Steve. If there is something in your stomach, be it a tumor or some sort of blockage, an ultrasound will show us and we’ll know where to go from there.”

Steve sighed and nodded. “Alright, when?”

“I’m free right now. If you’d like, we could go ahead and get it out of the way. Then you and Detective Williams can stop worrying about it.”

Steve looked up at Danny and then back to the doctor.

“Let’s do it,” Danny said.

The doctor looked at Danny and smiled. “I appreciate your concern for your friend, Detective, and I’m sure Steve does as well. But in the end, it’s his call.”

“Do it, Doc, let’s get it over with.”

\---

“What?!” Steve said and twisted to look at the screen.

“I uh, quite frankly, Commander McGarrett, I have no idea,” The Doctor said, never taking his eyes off the screen of the ultrasound machine. “But as you can see from the image, that’s no tumor.”

“It has to be. I’m not-”

“Steve,” Danny whispered.

“It wasn’t supposed to really happen!”

“Steve?” another whisper.

“I’m a guy!”

“Steve?”

“What, Danny!?” Steve shouted, turning his head to face him.

“You’re… you’re pregnant, Steve.”

“I’m uh… I’m going to give you two a minute,” the doctor said and stepped out of the room. Steve heard the door snick locked behind him. 

Steve sat up and stared at the screen, it was black now, but a moment earlier it had showed something impossible.

Danny’s warm hand was on his face then, gently turning it to face him. “Steve,” he said softly. “You’re pregnant.”

Steve just looked at him, the words flowing over him but they may as well have been in a language Steve didn’t understand. He wasn’t able to focus on anything but the image in his mind. The tumor… it’d had a shape and part of it had been…

“We’re going to have a baby.”

Steve shook his head and looked at Danny. “Oh,” he whispered. Then the screen made sense, the blinking part had been a heartbeat, the shape had been vaguely human. “Oh,” he said again and smiled. “Danny, we’re going to…” Then he was laughing, unable to control it.

“Yeah,” Danny said and pulled him into a tight hug. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“Oh my god, Danny. This isn’t real… it can’t be.”

“It is. I don’t know how, but it’s real, Steve. You’re… we’re pregnant.”

Steve jerked and looked down at his stomach and Danny’s warm hand resting on it. His heart was racing and his stomach was fluttering. “Danny…”

“Yeah, I’m here babe.”

Steve felt light headed. He was pregnant, Danny had gotten him pregnant, he had Danny’s baby growing in his belly. “Danny…”

“Come on, let’s go home.” Danny pulled Steve’s shirt off the hook behind the door and handed it to him. “We’ve got a lot of preparing to do.” 

\---

Danny was asleep. Steve knew that because he’d laid there for almost an hour just watching him, and Danny wasn’t that good of an actor. Finally, he’d sat up and leaned back against the headboard, looking down at his stomach. It wasn’t really that big, his pants weren’t even tight, they just… fit better. It certainly wasn’t the flat chiseled stomach he used to have, and if it was real, which he still couldn’t get his head around, his stomach was only going to get bigger. 

He laid his hand on his stomach and sighed. There was no way this was real, he couldn’t be pregnant because he was a man. This simply didn’t happen to men, no matter how many times another man had come in him. He reached back in his mind to his junior high sex ed class and mentally listed all the internal bits he was missing. Yeah, there was no way this was really happening. 

He probably had stomach cancer like Danny had said. He was probably in the advanced stages, getting close to death. He was probably in a sterilized hospital room, his friends gathered around him. He was delusional, or maybe he was in a coma, doctors did that sort of thing when a person’s pain got too bad for medication. Yeah, this was a delusional coma dream. Danny had told him he might have stomach cancer, they went to the doctor and found out that it was true. He’d just blocked everything else out because he didn’t really want to die. He looked over at Danny, his soft sleeping face and his ridiculous hair mussed from the pillow, of course he didn’t want to die, look at what he had in his life. This was just how he wanted it to be, he wanted to give Danny that fantasy, although he’d be damned if he ate Funions for the man. He would live in this dream world until the cancer took him, and…

“Hey,” Danny’s groggy voice pulled him out of his head. “You should be sleeping.”

“I can’t,” Steve replied truthfully. “This is impossible.”

Danny sat up and moved over close to sit beside Steve. He wrapped an arm around Steve’s shoulders and pulled him over to lean on him. “I know,” Danny said softly and rubbed Steve’s shoulder. “But it’s happened. I don’t know how, but it did.”

“I don’t… Danny…”

“I know,” Danny whispered. “I’m insanely happy, but I’m equally as terrified.”

“What if the doctor was wrong? What if it was a glitch in the machine or something? What if there’s really something horribly wrong and it just looks like a…”

“Baby, Steve. I don’t know, but if you want we can get a second opinion. I’m not sure how many people I want knowing about this though. I mean, Dr. Keli’i probably got on the phone the second we left his office. He’s probably given a dozen people exclusive rights to the story. We should have stopped that before we even left the building, I’m kicking myself now for not doing that.”

“No, Danny, Doctor Keli’i has been my and Mary’s doctor since we were babies ourselves. He wouldn’t do that. Besides, who would believe him?”

“True, but we should take some precautions anyway.”

Steve looked at Danny and sighed, letting his head thump back against the tall headboard. “I say we give it a couple of days, then we go back and have another ultrasound. Maybe… I don’t know, I haven’t been eating, maybe that messed it up somehow.”

Danny nodded, “We can do that. When Rachel was pregnant with Grace, they always told her to drink a lot of water before the ultrasound. You haven’t been keeping much in your stomach, you’re probably dehydrated.”

“Yeah, dehydrated. We should get another one, just to be safe. You know… make sure it’s not a tumor.”

“Yeah,” Danny replied and scooted back down to lie on the bed. He held his arms open for Steve, “Come on, lay with me. Let’s not worry too much about it one way or another right now. Like the doctor said, it doesn’t have to be cancer even if it’s not a baby.”

Steve nodded and snuggled close to Danny, resting his head on Danny’s shoulder. Danny was good at snuggling, and Steve loved that about him. Most men hated snuggling.

“Is it wrong that I really want it to be a baby though?” Danny asked softly, his words slightly muffled by Steve’s head.

Steve shook his head. It wasn’t wrong, he wanted it too. 

\---

They had the second ultrasound, the one that still showed the blinky bit that looked like a heartbeat. Dr. Keli’i had taken almost every last drop of blood out of Steve’s body to run tests on and a few hours after that, it hadn’t just been the ultrasound that said Steve was pregnant. The doctor had threatened to bill them for the massive freak out the machine had had during the test. It kept coming up with an error message, so he’d had the use the old fashioned method and brought Steve a stick to pee on. 

There was now a calendar on the refrigerator, it had dates circled and Danny had written cryptic messages in some of the squares. He said he didn’t want Grace finding out about the baby until they came up with a suitable way of telling her, and Steve hadn’t been able to argue. He couldn’t even think of a way to tell the rest of the team, let alone his step-daughter. 

“Fourteen weeks,” Danny said as he put a glass of orange juice on the coffee table in front of Steve.

Steve leaned over and picked it up, drinking half of it in one long swallow. He’d stopped getting sick all the time, and his stomach was starting to calm down, although certain smells still had him running toward the bathroom at breakneck speed. “Yeah, I have no idea what that means.”

“Well, it means that you’re out of the first trimester. It’s been a long time since Grace, so I don’t remember exactly what that means. I’m sure it probably means ‘pull up your big boy pants and tell your friends because pretty soon you won’t _have_ to tell them.’ We can’t wait forever, Steve.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “I know, but what the fuck are we supposed to say? Hey guys, in case you missed the memo, Danny and I have been fucking for quite a while now and as it turns out, I’m pregnant. Who knew?”

“Well I wouldn’t suggest saying it like that. And I’m pretty sure that at least Kono got the message about us fucking. Have you seen the way she looks at us when we walk into headquarters?”

“Yeah, and if she does know, it’s because you can’t hide that stupid look you get after I’ve blown you so hard you can’t think.”

“That’s not my fault; you’re the one doing the blowing during cases.”

“Right, like you haven’t done your fair share.”

“I’m not saying I haven’t, but you know I can’t hide that stupid look I get and yet you do it anyway.”

Steve smirked, “I love that stupid look you get.”

“I noticed.” Danny smiled and cupped the back of Steve’s neck, pulling him into a kiss. “Oh,” he said a moment later as he pulled away from Steve’s mouth. “I just remembered something. Being out of the first trimester? It means you get your sex drive back.”

Steve cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Yeah, I think I feel it, let’s go to bed.”

\---

“Ah, God, Danny,” Steve moaned as Danny pressed into him. They had to be more careful now, at least according to Danny. He wouldn’t let Steve put his legs over Danny’s shoulders anymore, even though Steve protested that it gave the best angle for prostate stimulation, and the penetration was much deeper. Danny hadn’t disagreed with that argument, but he countered with the fact that cramping up the baby’s space that much couldn’t be good for it. Steve couldn’t argue with that, so he allowed himself to be turned onto his side where Danny spooned up behind him. 

“Fuck babe, you’re so tight. Perfect,” Danny breathed and dug his fingers into Steve’s hip. Steve pressed back against him and Danny gasped as he was driven deeper into Steve’s body. “Jesus, Steve, be careful.”

“I don’t think we’re going to poke a hole in whatever the baby’s living in, Danny. Come on, fuck me.”

“Shit, you can’t say things like that, Steve,” Danny said, but he was doing as Steve asked, thrusting in and out of him, albeit slowly. 

“Jesus, fuck, Danny…” Steve sighed. He felt every move Danny made, so much more than usual and it felt like he was going to come apart at any moment. The slick slide of Danny’s lubed cock in his ass was exquisite, almost painful with the amount of sensation he was getting. When the head of Danny’s dick hit his prostate, Steve’s breath caught in his throat and color exploded behind his eyes as he came with a heavy grunt. His muscles were trembling and his entire body was shaking by the time Danny pressed firmly against him and came. 

Steve hissed in a breath as Danny pulled out of him, then Danny pulled him onto his back and wrapped his arms around him. “Sensitive?” Danny asked softly, kissing Steve’s temple.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Danny. That was… I don’t even know. Intense.”

Danny chuckled and pulled Steve closer. “Yeah, sex was always more intense for Rachel when she was pregnant, but I didn’t realize it’d be the same for you.”

Steve lifted his head off Danny’s shoulder and glared at him. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so aggravated at Danny, it certainly wasn’t the right time; they’d just had the best sex of Steve’s life. “Do think you could maybe _not_ compare me to Rachel every time I turn around?”

Danny looked hurt, and then Steve felt bad so he put his head back on Danny’s chest and lightly rubbed his thumb over Danny’s nipple. “I’m sorry, babe,” Danny said without hesitation. “It’s just… I don’t know, I’ve kind of been through this before and I just want to help out.” 

Steve sighed, “I know, and it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Besides, Rachel is a woman and I’m a man. My pregnancy may have similarities to hers, but it can’t possibly be the same.”

“You’re right, Steve, I promise to try not to do it again, but you know it’s going to happen. So when it does, just put me in my place.”

“Okay, I can do that. Now let’s not talk about that anymore tonight.”

Steve felt Danny nod, and he pulled Steve even closer. Steve thought about reminding Danny of his argument about cramping the baby’s space, but it felt too good being pressed into Danny’s side, so he just closed his eyes and inhaled Danny’s scent. “Yes, by the way,” he said after a silent moment.

“Hmm?” Danny asked and Steve could tell he’d been almost asleep, he sort of felt bad for waking him up.

“I said yes.”

“To what?” Danny asked.

“I am sensitive, extremely so, and I’d like to do that again as soon as you’re able.”

Danny chuckled and kissed Steve softly. “We can do that,” he said.

\---

Steve felt like an idiot, laid out on a hospital bed with his shirt pulled up to his chest, Dr. Keli’i frantically rubbing his hands together beside him.

“Twenty weeks, Steve,” the doctor said as he pressed his fingers into Steve’s stomach. “Has everything been going alright?”

“I’m a pregnant man, Doc,” Steve replied. “I wouldn’t know if everything wasn’t alright.”

“Of course you would,” Danny said. “Once when… never mind.”

“What?” Steve asked.

“Nothing,” Danny replied and smiled at Steve.

“Danny?” Steve warned.

“It was about Rachel, you told me not to compare so never mind.”

Steve sighed, “when it’s important it’s another matter, Danny. So once when Rachel was pregnant with Grace… what?”

“Well, she said she thought something was wrong, I told her everything was fine. The baby was moving, I’d felt her kick not an hour before, but Rachel insisted. So I took her to the hospital.”

“And?” Steve urged.

“It wasn’t anything major. They took an ultrasound and found that Grace and turned over again. You know, at a certain point in the pregnancy the baby turns upside down to get ready for birth. Grace had turned upside down but then she turned over again. She’d turned again before she was due, but Rachel knew that something was different. So you’ll know too.”

Steve blew out a breath and looked at the doctor. “As far as I know, everything has been fine.”

“Have you felt the baby move yet?”

Steve felt his heart rate pick up. “No, am I supposed to have?”

“Not all pregnancies are the same, Steve,” Keli’i said. “Sometimes the baby moves early, sometimes you won’t feel it until later. But at this point, all you’d probably feel is something like butterflies.”

“Oh, well yeah, I’ve felt that. I thought it was just nerves. Sometimes I get… well I am a man and I’ve never… well obviously I’ve never done this before.” He blew out a heavy sigh, “I sound like an idiot.”

“You sound like a new parent,” Danny said with a smile. 

Keli’i chuckled, “have you gotten sick anymore?”

“No,” Steve answered, “thankfully. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could have handled that.”

“It did last a little longer than it usually does in most pregnancies. But I’m sure you’re both aware that this isn’t like most pregnancies.”

“Yeah, you get the understatement of the year award doc,” Danny said sarcastically. 

“Any cravings? Normal or unnatural?”

“What’s an unnatural craving?” Steve asked.

“Dirt, gasoline, paint chips, that sort of thing,” the doctor answered.

“People actually crave those things?” Danny asked.

“Yes, it’s a sign that the body is lacking something. Steve, you have to promise me and Danny that you’ll come to us if you get any kind of craving for something that could harm you and the baby. And Danny, if he comes to you with such a craving, bring him to me right away.”

“You have my word, Doc,” Danny promised.

“Steve?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

“Alright, everything looks good from here. You can go, but make an appointment on your way out for next month. After that, I think I’ll probably be making house calls. Right now it just looks like you’ve gained some weight, but before long, your pregnancy will not be able to be kept a secret.”

Steve sighed as he pulled his shirt down. “I’m not looking forward to that,” he said.

\---

Steve was sitting on the couch in just his boxers when Danny walked into the house. He had a paper grocery sack in one arm and a jug of orange juice in the other.

“Hey babe,” Danny said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Steve replied. He was absently rubbing the bulge of his belly, he found himself doing that a lot lately, usually when he was really tired. 

“Let me put the groceries away and then we’ll go up and take a nap,” Danny said as he walked through the living room toward the kitchen. 

“I’m too comfortable, I don’t want to move.” He was uncomfortable more often than not these days. If his back wasn’t hurting, his legs were. Sometimes it felt like his stomach was just going to explode like a scene out of one of the Alien movies. That thought usually lead him to wonder how he was able to get pregnant in the first place, but Danny wouldn’t even remotely entertain a conversation that had Steve asking about alien babies. 

“Okay then,” Danny called from the kitchen. “You can take a nap right there.”

“I can’t, I tried.”

Danny stood in the kitchen doorway and leaned on the frame, looking at Steve. “Do you have to be so difficult?” he asked.

“I’m not trying to be, Danny,” Steve did not whine. Only, apparently he did, because Danny’s face softened and he walked over to Steve and sat beside him. 

“I know, babe. It’s got to be hard; I can’t even begin to imagine what you must be feeling.” Danny leaned over and began rubbing Steve’s belly with him. 

Steve had to admit that Danny’s rubbing hand felt much better than his own and he let his hand drop away giving Danny full reign of the belly rubbing. He felt himself relaxing as Danny’s hand moved across the taut skin, and he let his head rest against the back of the couch, turning to the side to look at Danny. Sometimes, usually when Danny was asleep, Steve tried to imagine what their baby would look like. Would it have his dark hair or Danny’s blond? Would it be short or a little taller? And every now and then, like right now, he wondered if it would look like either of them.

“Danny,” Steve said softly after a long moment.

“Yeah babe?” Danny asked, keeping his hand moving.

“How do you suppose this happened?”

Danny looked at him and Steve could tell that he was unsure of where that question came from, or maybe where it was leading. “Certainly not because of any supernatural reason,” he finally answered.

“No, I’m not talking about aliens again, but really…” he sighed and encouraged Danny to keep rubbing. “I’ve heard of women who wanted a baby so badly that they talked their bodies into believing they were pregnant.”

“That’s not what happened, we’ve seen the baby and heard the heartbeat. You are actually pregnant, Steve.”

“Yeah, but how? I’m a man and I wasn’t born with the stuff I need to carry a baby.”

“Well obviously you were,” Danny said lightly and Steve almost appreciated the fact that he was trying to lighten the conversation.

“Okay, but even if by some freak phenomenon… a mix up in the womb or something, I was born with female… insides. I’m not sure the method of…” he paused, not really sure how to word what he wanted to say. “Sperm injection,” he finally settled on, “would lead to the right place. I mean, Danny this shouldn’t be happening.”

Danny sighed and turned a little more to face Steve. “I know. I know that it’s scary, and that you have a million scenarios running through your head. I also know that every time you wake up, there’s a new question that can’t be answered. I know this because it’s the same with me, but it has happened. We’ll probably never know how, and it might not ever happen again, to us or anyone else. We have to look at it as a blessing; it was something we both wanted, even if it did just start out as a sex game. We can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I never understood what that meant. And if this was a car or a book or a dog, I wouldn’t think twice about it, but this is… it’s weird.”

Danny nodded but he was smiling. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Steve. I knew the second you walked into my life that things would never be the same. I tried to resist it… you, but I just couldn’t. This is what we’re meant to do, we’re meant to have a family together and it’s happening. Not in any expected way, but it’s real all the same and I’m very happy about it.”

Steve looked up at the ceiling, he didn’t know how but Danny always had a way of making him feel better about this thing. Maybe it was Danny’s excitement pushing Steve’s that much higher, or the way Danny never seemed to doubt that this was right and perfect. Most likely, it was the way Danny loved Steve no matter what he said or did… or threw in some cases, either way, Steve felt better and the questions were pushed aside for a little while longer. “Me too,” he said and looked over at Danny again. “I’m happy too, Danno.”

\---

Steve woke to the sound of Danny’s laughter. He had his hand on Steve’s stomach which in itself wasn’t a new thing, but he had a grin on his face that was unlike anything Steve had ever seen before. “What are you doing?” Steve asked sleepily.

Danny looked at him and the grin widened impossibly. “Here,” Danny said and took Steve’s hand, placing it on Steve’s belly where Danny’s hand had been.

“Danny, What- oh…”

Danny laughed again and nodded. “It’s moving.”

“How did you feel that before me?” Steve asked, feeling a little disappointed.

“I don’t know; I just had my hand on your stomach and, boom, the baby kicked. I wasn’t going to tell you, but you woke up.”

“Your laughing woke me up.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, I couldn’t help it.”

The baby tapped against Steve’s fingers again and he smiled, all the disappointment he’d felt just slipped away. He looked at Danny, not even trying to hide the gloss of tears in his eyes. “It’s moving… it’s really in there.”

“It really is,” Danny replied and put his hand back on Steve’s stomach. He slid his fingers between Steve’s so they both could feel their baby. 

\---

Grace sat on the couch staring at Steve and his belly; it had become obvious over the last few weeks that it was more than a little weight gain. Danny was beside him looking nervously hopeful. They’d had Grace for weekends since the pregnancy began, but this was the first time she was there since his belly became round and pregnant like. 

“I thought you told her,” Steve hissed at Danny.

“I did,” Danny spat back just as softly. “But how much can you prepare a kid for this kind of thing?”

Steve tipped his head, conceding Danny’s point. “Gracie, if there’s anything you want to say, you can go ahead and say it,” Steve told her softly. “I promise your dad and I won’t get upset, and we’ll answer everything we can. Okay?”

Grace swallowed visibly; she was old enough to know that men didn’t have babies. “Um,” she began. “How are you pregnant?” 

Steve looked at Danny and then back at Grace and shrugged. “We don’t know,” he said truthfully.

“My teacher is going to have a baby too,” Grace told them matter of factly. “When she told us about it, a lot of the kids had questions and she said she’d tell us all, but then she sent home permission slips. Mommy signed it, Step-Stan didn’t want her to, but she did anyway. Then when we all turned in the permission slips, the teacher told us we could ask her our questions.”

“I’m not sure I like where this is going,” Danny whispered and Steve just shushed him.

“We asked how the baby got in her belly,” Grace said.

“Yeah, I think I agree with you.” Steve whispered back to Danny and it was Danny’s turn to shush him.

“She said that when a man and a woman love each other very much they get married and then the man puts a baby in her belly. She wouldn’t tell us how, she told us to ask our parents.”

“Good woman, I’m not sure I want a total stranger telling my daughter about the birds and the bees,” Danny said.

“She’s not a total stranger, Danny, she’s Grace’s teacher.”

“Whatever, we’ll let Rachel handle that conversation.”

“Agreed.”

“Um, guys, you said I could talk,” Grace told them.

“Right, go ahead,” Steve replied. He was going to need to sit down soon, his back was starting to ache.

“She told us that when it was time for her to have the baby she’d have to be away from school for a long time. Tommy asked why she didn’t put the baby in her husband’s belly so that she wouldn’t have to stop being our teacher. She said men can’t have babies because they don’t have the right parts. She said men make the babies and women carry them in their bellies until they’re big enough to be born. Daddy put me in Mommy’s belly just like Mrs. Kona’s husband put her baby in her belly. So if men don’t have the right parts, how are you pregnant?”

Steve sighed, wishing that question had been directed toward both he and Danny rather than just him. “Like I said babe, we don’t know. It just happened.”

“Did Daddy put the baby in your belly?”

Steve looked at Danny and shrugged. “Yes?”

“How? Because when I asked mommy how men put babies in women’s bellies she told me. Women have a vagina and men have a penis and when they go together-”

“Oh-kay!” Danny stopped her, “That’s enough of that particular part of this conversation. We’ll have that talk when you’re a little bit older, alright?”

“Okay,” Grace sighed.

Steve finally moved over and sat on the couch beside Grace. “Listen sweetheart, I’m sorry we can’t answer all of your questions, but we just don’t know how it happened. We do know that this baby is both mine and Danno’s and that means that it’s your little brother or sister.”

Grace looked at him for a long time. She looked unsure of what to say next, but finally she took a deep breath. “Can I touch your belly?”

Steve smiled weakly, he knew this day would come. She had every right to touch his belly, it was her baby sibling, but it was going to be weird. “Of course you can,” he said and lifted his shirt a little.

Grace hesitantly reached forward and put her hand softly on Steve’s belly. “It’s hard,” she said.

“That’s because the baby is filling it up and stretching it out,” Danny said, sitting on Grace’s other side. 

“How’s it going to come out?”

Steve swallowed and looked at Danny. He could feel all the color draining from his face and he hoped it didn’t scare Grace.

Danny looked panicked for a second then he reached over and put his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “When it’s time for the baby to come out, Steve will have a surgery. The doctor will cut his belly and take it out that way. You don’t have to worry, doctor’s do that all the time, it’s called a cesarean section, or C-section for short. You almost had to be born that way, but you got it all figured out in time.”

“Oh,” Grace said and looked at Steve. “Are you scared?”

Steve smiled at her reassuringly and shook his head, “nah,” he said. “Like Danno said, doctors do that kind of thing all the time.” He ruffled her hair and she smiled at him before looking at Danny. Steve hated lying to Grace, but he wasn’t about to tell her that he was scared out of his mind. He’d dealt with a lot of things in his life but this wasn’t anything he ever thought he’d have to endure. He was the first and most likely the last pregnant man, and while doctors do C-Sections all the time, they’d never done one on a man, and that was terrifying.

“Wait until I tell Mrs. Kona that she was wrong,” Grace sounded a little smug.

“No no, Monkey,” Danny said gently. “You can’t tell your teacher or any of your friends. This has to be a family secret, okay?”

“Why?”

Danny and Steve exchanged a look that said they hadn’t thought this conversation out far enough. 

“Because,” Steve was the one who finally spoke. “Mrs. Kona was right when she said men don’t have babies. We don’t know how this happened, and it’s a big gift that it did, but we can’t tell. If we tell anyone they might… um,” Steve looked to Danny for some assistance.

“They might take Steve away from us to run tests on him,” Danny finished.

“Like he’s an alien?” Grace asked innocently, but the thought was back in Steve’s head.

“Something like that,” Danny told her. “But we know he’s not an alien.”

“No, he’s my step-daddy. Would they bring him back?”

Danny sighed and shrugged. “Probably not.”

“No,” Grace whimpered.

“Hey,” Steve said and gathered her close. “You don’t have to worry; I’m not letting anyone take me away from you and Danno.”

“But that’s why we have to keep it secret. Okay monkey?” Danny added softly.

“I won’t tell,” she said and hugged them each in turn. 

\---

Steve was almost through his sixth month when it hit him. “Oh fuck,” he groaned and let his head drop against the back of the lawn chair he was sitting in. He loved sitting on the balcony and looking out at the ocean, especially since he couldn’t actually swim anymore. Danny had taken him down to the beach a few times and Steve had stood in the surf, wishing more than almost anything that he could grab a board and just go out there and let the waves take him where ever they wanted him to go. “Danny,” he called in through the open door and a moment later Danny was there. 

“What is it, babe,” he asked. He’d taken to calling Steve babe more often, and usually that didn’t bother him. Of course it helped that, every time Danny was home, he was at Steve’s every beck and call. 

“I’m having one of those unnatural cravings,” Steve said sounding disgusted. 

“What?! For how long? What is it?” Danny demanded hurriedly. 

Steve took a deep breath and let it out as he turned his face back to the ocean. 

“Steve, you have to tell me, the doctor said I have to tell him right away.” Danny’s tone was gentle and worried.

“Funions,” Steve mumbled softly.

“What was that?”

“I said Funions!” Steve said loudly.

“Funions. That is not an unnatural craving, Steven.”

“It’s something that could harm me _and_ the baby, Danny.”

“No it isn’t,” Danny spat.

“Yes, it is. Do you even know how awful those things are for you? Not to mention they make your breath smell horrible.”

“Ok, I’ll give you that much, but they won’t hurt you or the baby and it’s not unnatural.”

“It is for me, and I blame you completely.”

“Why blame me?”

“Because, you put the thought there way back before I was even pregnant. You said you thought about me with a pregnant belly on the couch with a bag of Funions and iced tea.”

Danny smirked and Steve wanted to wipe it right off his face. “Oh yeah. I’ll go get you a bag of funions and when I get back you can sit on the couch while I make you some iced tea.”

“I hate you a lot right now, you know that right?”

“Yes, I know, but in an hour you’ll love me again so I’m not worried.” Steve wanted to reply to that with something witty and sarcastic but Danny was already gone. 

Twenty minutes later Steve was sitting on the couch making ridiculous yummy noises and grimacing as he devoured an entire bag of Funions. He ate them down to the last crumb then licked his fingers before draining his glass of iced tea. All the while Danny sat across from him with a grin splitting his face wide open. “Happy?” Steve asked.

“Ridiculously happy,” Danny answered. 

“I won’t be eating those ever again. In fact, I think I feel some morning sickness coming on to get rid of them.” 

“Nah, the morning sickness has been over for a few months now. You’re keeping every last one of them in that tummy, and our baby is going to love them.” 

“Never. Again. Danny.”

“We’ll see.”

\---

Steve woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. He laid there and listened to whoever it was beating down his door until it finally stopped.

“What is going on in this house, Daniel?” Rachel’s voice carried through the house and up to the bedroom.

“What are you talking about?” Danny asked.

“Have you ever left Steve alone with Grace?”

“Yeah, a few times, you know that. What’s going on?”

“Has he ever done anything inappropriate to her?”

Steve got out of bed at that question. He wasn’t sure what she was on about, but he’d be damned if he lay there and just listen to that kind of conversation.

“What?! Absolutely not, Rachel. What the fuck even brought that up?”

“This morning Grace and I were talking about her teacher’s pregnancy and it came up that she and Steve had a secret.”

“And _that’s_ the first thing you thought of? Jesus, Rachel, how dare you.”

“Daniel, I just want to… oh my-” She stopped when Steve made it half way down the stairs and became visible from the front door.

“We haven’t told her yet, have we?” Steve asked.

Danny blew out a harsh breath and shook his head. “Rachel,” he said, “you should come in. We’ve got something we need to talk about.

\---

Steve hated bothering Danny at work, he hardly went in as it was, but he simply couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Steve, I’m a little bit busy here,” Danny said when he answered his phone. 

“I know, but I need some peanut butter pecan ice cream. I tried to ignore it but it won’t go away.”

“I can’t leave right now, Steve,” Danny said calmly. “They’re suspicious enough as it is.”

“Who?”

“Jack Frost and the Easter bunny. Who do you think?”

“Suspicious?”

“Chin, Kono and Jenna are worried about you. It’s been months since you’ve even phoned in on a case. They think you’re dying and I can’t think of any more excuses. It’s time to tell them, Steve.”

“Danny I… I don’t know that I can.”

“Of course you can. We’ll do it the same way we told Grace and Rachel. Just get it over with and answer all the questions.”

“Danny, Grace and Rachel are family. It was easier to tell them than it will be to tell the team. Not to mention, I’m the head of Five-0, I can’t take the risk that I’ll lose their respect.”

“Are you serious? Listen to yourself right now, you’re being an idiot.”

“Danny-”

“No, Steve, Chin, Kono and Jenna are just as much family as Grace and Rachel. You’re not going to lose their respect just because you’re pregnant. They’re worried about you, Steven, and I’m not going to sit by and watch them worry themselves sick just because you can’t act like an adult.”

“Danny-” Steve tried again.

“Get Rachel to get your ice cream. She’s been in crazy mother mode since she found out anyway. It’ll make her feel needed. Then make yourself presentable, because I’m bringing the team by after work. You have until then to get yourself figured out. ”

“Danny,” Steve said, but the line was already dead. He sighed and put his phone away, Danny hadn’t talked to him in that tone for a long time. He was still worried of course, it would take more than a harsh tone to take that away, but he did feel a little braver. He should have told the team a long time ago and he felt bad that he hadn’t. He wondered if he should have Rachel pick up some steaks too. They could have a cook out and celebrate the fact that everyone knew that Steve wasn’t dying. It didn’t take more than a moment for him to dismiss the idea, by the time he was done telling everyone and answering questions he’d probably be ready for a nap.

With another deep sigh, Steve picked up the phone and dialed Rachel’s number. This was another thing he wasn’t looking forward to. Damn cravings.

\---

When Steve opened the door and saw Rachel standing there with a huge grin on her face and a tub of ice cream in her hands, his fight or flight response kicked in. If his belly would have let him, he didn’t doubt that he’d have been gone. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Rachel, because he did, but this was a situation that he never imagined he’d be in and he didn’t know how it was going to turn out. 

“Hello, Steven may I come in?” she asked sweetly. 

Steve looked at the tub of ice cream, nodded and stepped out of the way. Rachel eased past him and found her way to the kitchen with Steve hot on her heels, his mouth watering the entire way. 

“You sit down, I’ll handle this,” Rachel said as she opened the cabinets one by one and finally found the bowls. “I know all too well what seven months of pregnancy can do to the back and legs.”

Steve didn’t argue but he didn’t agree either, he just sat down at the table and waited patiently for his treat. Rachel found the ice cream scoop, something left over from when his mother and father lived there, and started dishing out the cream. Steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d had anything other than shave ice, but he had a vague memory of he and Mary sitting on the lanai with their parents and watching fireworks explode over the ocean as they all shared a giant bowl of ice cream. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rachel sat a big bowl in front of him and he grabbed the spoon and dug in. “Oh yeah, that’s good,” he moaned as the frozen treat melted on his tongue.

“I’ve never had peanut butter pecan ice cream before,” Rachel said as she took her own small spoonful. “It’s rather tasty though.”

“I’ve never had it either,” Steve told her. “I didn’t even know if it was a real flavor, I was going to blackmail Kamakona into making it if it wasn’t.”

“Well that’s no way to treat your friends,” Rachel scolded, but she was smiling so Steve didn’t take offence. 

“Yeah well, it would have been the least of the things I’ve had him do.”

Rachel didn’t reply to that, instead she just spooned another bite of ice cream into her mouth. “I take it this was a craving,” she said after a moment.

Steve nodded, “yeah, it just kind of hit me. It’s strange too; I haven’t eaten ice cream since I was a kid. I just didn’t have any desire to eat it until today.”

“I think it’s Daniel,” she said softly.

“Excuse me?” Steve asked, trying to sound casual. 

She smiled, “when I was pregnant with Grace, I craved deep dish pizza smothered in sauce, pepperoni and anchovies. I abhor anything with that much grease and I’m not a fan of pizza of any kind. But I simply had to have it. I think Daniel makes us crave unusual things.”

Steve shuddered at the memory of the Funions he’d eaten and nodded. He suddenly had an inappropriate thought about the things that might be found in Danny’s semen, he pushed the thought away quickly though. 

“How long have you and Danny been sexually active together?”

The question caught Steve off guard and he nearly choked on a small cluster of pecans. “What?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t mean to pry or be rude but, you see, Steve, Danny is Grace’s father. He’s always going to be in her life and-”

“Wait a minute, do you think I’m trying to push her out, because that’s not happening. First of all, I’d never do that to Danny, he adores that little girl more than anything in the entire world. Secondly, I’d never do that to Grace, Danny is her hero above all else. And third, I love the kid myself; she’s a great little girl.”

“I understand that, but Grace is already extremely attached to that baby and she’s only known about it for a little while. I just want to make sure that this isn’t some fly by night fling you have going on. I could tell the other day when you guys told me about the pregnancy, that Danny is just as excited about this baby as he was about Grace. If you were to decide that this isn’t what you want, Danny isn’t who you want, and you got up and left… Danny and Grace would both be crushed. I may not be married to him anymore, but Daniel is still my family and I won’t see him hurt.”

Thoughts and emotions whirled like a hurricane in Steve’s head. He was proud and touched at the fact that Rachel was so protective of Danny’s feelings. He was also insulted that she would think that he was ever going to leave Danny for anyone or anything, and he was disgusted that she’d come baring gifts only to end up giving him the third degree. 

“Listen, Rachel,” he said slowly. “I don’t know what you think of me, but judging by this conversation, it can’t be very much. I also don’t know if you’re aware of the fact that a man can be _in love_ with another man, but I am. I love Danny and I’d do anything in my power to keep him safe and happy. Grace is an extension of him, so I love her too; I don’t think I could love her more if she was my own kid. No, I never expected to get pregnant, I never thought Danny and I would have kids and that was fine because we have Grace and that was enough for me as long as it made him happy. But this,” he put his hand protectively on his belly and stared at the woman across from him. “This baby… this life, is exactly what I want. I want this family with Danny, and by this family I mean him, me, Grace this baby, and yes, even you and Stan. There is nothing I want more in this world than what I have right now.” He hated himself a little bit for the sting of tears in his eyes and the thick lump of emotion in his throat that made his last few words break. 

Rachel smiled, but Steve could see that her eyes were a bit shiny as well. “That’s all I needed to know, Steven. A pregnant person can lie their face off, but not when it comes to their emotions. I don’t know how this happened, and I’m not sure I really want to find out, but I’m very happy for you both.” She sniffed and brushed away a tear as she straightened in her seat. “Also, you need to know that I expect to be called when you go into labor, or whatever is going to happen when the time comes. Grace and I want to be there when the baby is born, we both want to be among the first to hold the newest member of our family.”

Steve was utterly confused, he’d had no idea where this conversation had been heading but this certainly wasn’t what he’d expected. He chuckled and wiped his own stupid tears off his face and nodded. “I think we can promise that,” he said.

They talked for almost two hours, going from the kitchen, to the living room and then out onto the second floor balcony when the couch began hurting Steve’s back. Rachel stood behind him at one point and massaged a place on his back that made Steve want to profess his undying love for her and shower her with gifts. She told him not to let Danny fool him, he’d taken Lamaze class with her and he knew all the best ways to make the pressure go away. Steve made a note and was going to make Danny do some of the things she’d mentioned, especially the sex bit. 

By the time Rachel left, Steve was exhausted, emotionally drained and felt ridiculously girly. He’d talked to her more in the last two hours than he had the entire time he’d known her. After she was gone, Steve looked at his watch and sighed when he realized that Danny would be home with the rest of the team in just over an hour. He didn’t want to tell them, part of him was afraid of what they’d think or what they’d say, and a tiny piece of him, the part that wasn’t giddy over the fact that they were going to have a baby, was a little embarrassed. Finally he took a deep breath and trudged up the stairs to take a shower, he needed to be presentable for this conversation.

\---

“Is it bad?” Steve heard Kono say through the front door. He took a deep breath and swallowed down his irrational fears. He’d decided to wear the loosest things he owned, but these days there was simply no hiding the belly. 

“No-” Danny started, but Steve heard Jenna cut him off.

“Of course it is,” she said. “All these months that he’s been sick and he’s just now inviting us over to tell us what’s wrong with him? He’s dying.” She sounded so sure of that fact. 

“He is _not_ dying, Jenna,” Danny said firmly, “I’ve told you that countless times. Now you all need to stay calm when we go in there.” 

‘Way to go, Danny get them even more worried,’ Steve thought, but he found that he wasn’t quite as nervous as he had been. Kono and Jenna _had_ sounded worried, almost terrified that their boss and friend was going to die. He felt awful for making them wait so long to learn the truth, for making them worry for several months but he was going to fix that today. He still wasn’t sure how to start the conversation, but he knew he could do it, reassuring people that the worst isn’t going to happen was something Steve was good at. Right now his friends were positive that Steve was inside lying on his death bed, he was going to alleviate those fears. 

‘No point delaying the inevitable any longer’ Steve thought as he struggled to get off the couch. Danny was still trying to calm Jenna down when Steve opened the front door.

“Hey Boss,” Kono said with her usual bright smile and crinkled eyes, but Steve saw her gaze jerk quickly to his belly and back to his eyes.

“It is stomach cancer,” Jenna whispered to Chin and Steve just shook his head and moved aside.

“Come on in,” he said, “I have a feeling it’s going to be a long evening.”

Danny had handed each of their team mates a beer, and now they were all lined up on the couch looking at Steve expectantly. Steve took a deep breath and accepted the glass of iced tea Danny offered. He drank about half of it before sitting it on the coffee table and looking back at his team.

“This is going to come as a shock to you all,” Steve began. “But I’m not sure what will be the bigger surprise. The fact that Danny and I have been sleeping together for quite some time now, or the fact that I somehow ended up pregnant.”

Danny looked at Steve, his brow furrowed and shook his head. “Did you rehearse that? Cause it sucked.” 

“Well, Danny, how did you expect me to tell them?” Steve asked, putting his hands on his hips and turning to face him. 

“I don’t know, a little more tactfully maybe,” Danny spat back. 

“I didn’t see you helping at all.”

“I got them beers!”

“Something you should have done before you brought them to hear the news. I’m sure being told that your very male boss is seven months pregnant is something that’s easier to hear when you’ve got a few in you.” 

“Guys,” Chin said, but neither Steve nor Danny heard him.

“Are you suggesting that I encourage them to drink on the clock? Because that’s something that is usually frowned upon by those in charge.”

“No, I’m not suggesting that. What I am suggesting is that you took them out on your tab for a drink _before_ you brought them here.”

“Um… Guys,” It was Jenna that time, but neither of them paid her any attention.

“Right, and have you call me half way through because you got a craving for more Funions? Besides, you’ve been in bed _asleep_ by nine o’clock most nights.”

“I’ve only ever craved Funions the once and I-”

“Hey!” Kono shouted and they both turned to look at the team. All three of them were a little glossy eyed with confusion and possibly a little amusement.

“Oh yeah, they’re totally doing it,” Jenna said with a smile.

“Never doubted it,” Chin replied.

“Didn’t I tell you? I told you,” Kono added smugly.

“You uh… you guys knew?” Steve asked. 

“Well yeah,” Kono said. “Seriously, Steve, you’re all about stealth and covert ops and stuff, but Danny’s not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danny asked, incredulous. 

“You get this look,” Kono said.

“After you and Steve have been off somewhere alone,” Jenna added.

“It just screams sexual satisfaction,” Kono finished.

“Not to mention, and no offense, but Steve, most of the time when Danny’s around…” Jenna paused and pulled in a breath through her teeth as if she were thinking of how to say what she wanted to.

“Let’s just say,” Kono filled in for her. “That cargo pants don’t do much to hide the weapon you’re packing.”

Steve felt every drop of blood in his body rush to his face, and he felt light headed. He must have wavered a bit because Danny’s hands were on him a second later, helping him over to the chair. “So, you’re not at all surprised?” he asked as he took his glass of iced tea from Danny and drained the rest of it.

“That you guys are together?” Chin asked. “No, not really.”

“We never expected you to be pregnant thought,” Kono added. “How’d that happen anyway?”

“No clue,” Danny told them. “You guys are taking it remarkably well though.”

“Well, Steve has some of the strangest ways of getting what he wants, so I mean it’s a surprise, but I didn’t doubt that he could bend the laws of nature too,” Kono replied.

“Bent?” Jenna asked, “Those laws are obliterated!”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Chin asked, sounding a little bit disappointed and maybe even hurt.

Steve shrugged and leaned back in the chair, his hand automatically going to his belly again. “I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “At first it was hard to believe ourselves. Then it just got harder and harder to think of a way to tell anyone, let alone you.”

“I don’t know about Kono,” Jenna said, “But I’m kind of upset that we haven’t known.”

Yeah,” Kono agreed. “Think of all the baby things we could have been buying.”

“Sleepers and ruffly dresses and booties,” Steve could just see Jenna making a list on her PDA when they left the house.

“You’re assuming it’s a girl,” Chin said and looked at Steve and Danny. “You guys know what it is?”

Steve looked at Danny and then down to his belly. “No,” he said and looked back up at Danny. “Should we find out?”

Danny took a step back and raised his hands in defense. “I’m leaving that decision completely up to you,” he said.

“This has something to do with Rachel and Grace doesn’t it?” Steve asked with a mild glare. 

Danny just shrugged.

“Who all knows?” Chin asked.

Danny took a deep breath, “Grace and Rachel.”

“Stan probably knows by now,” Steve added. “But he hasn’t made any noise about it one way or the other.”

Jenna took out her phone and began typing. Two seconds later Kono’s phone buzzed and she checked the text and smiled before replying. Jenna typed a message back and then the women were both smiling like fools.

“What was that?” Danny asked and motioned between the two of them.

“Nothing,” Kono replied and took the first drink of her beer. 

“Yeah I don’t buy that for a second,” Danny said. 

“So, seven months huh?” Chin said, an obvious attempt to divert attention off the females who were up to something.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “twenty-five weeks to be exact. Pregnancy apparently does not last nine months .”

“I could have told you that,” Danny said.

“And you did, several times, always attached to the beginning or the end of a ‘when Rachel was pregnant’ sentence.”

“Okay,” Chin said with a slight puff of air. “I think we’re going to leave you guys alone.” He checked his watch, “According to Danny, it’s past your bed time Steve.”

“Shut up,” Steve replied, but it was good natured.

“Keep us in the loop,” Kono suggested before the three of them left.

“Well, that went well,” Danny said.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Better than I thought, although Jenna and Kono are obviously up to no good.”

“Are you surprised?”

“Not really, no.”

“What do you say to going to bed?”

“I say let’s go,” Steve struggled out of the chair. “But not for sleep, Rachel told me about all the stuff you know about relieving pressure.”

“Oh yeah, I’m the grand master.”

“Show me?”

“Absolutely.”

\---

It was perfect, just after dusk so it was still light enough to see, but the strip of beach behind Steve’s house was empty except for the two of them. Steve sat on the sand with his feet just below the tide line, water coming up to tickle at his ankles. Danny was behind him with his legs on either side of Steve’s hips, his arms wrapped around Steve, and he was rubbing his belly. It was hot, but the water was cool enough to make Steve feel like he was in his own private heaven. He leaned his head back against Danny’s shoulder and looked up at the few stars that were peeking out into the night, and he thought he could sit like this forever.

“Hey,” Danny said softly and nuzzled his nose into Steve’s hair. “You’ve been quiet lately.”

Steve sighed, Danny was right he had been quiet for the past few days. He couldn’t stop thinking about Chin asking if they knew the baby’s sex and Danny’s reaction when Steve asked if they should find out. It was obvious that it was a bit of a sore spot with Danny. He’d always offered up stories of when Rachel was pregnant, but that was one thing he’d completely backed away from. Steve didn’t want to make that kind of decision on his own, it was their baby and he wanted Danny to be part of the entire pregnancy. 

“Just thinking,” Steve finally said.

“About the baby?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, and whether or not we should try to find out the sex.”

“I told you, that’s up to you.” Danny didn’t sound upset or withdrawn, but there was something in his voice that Steve couldn’t place. 

He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, but Steve needed to know why Danny didn’t want to help with this particular decision. He sighed and decided it was best to just say it. “Your reluctance to help me decide has something to do with Rachel’s pregnancy, that much is obvious,” He said gently. “What I want to know is; was it because you wanted to find out and she didn’t, or the other way around.”

Danny was quiet for a long time and Steve was just going to let the subject drop and not bring it up again, but then Danny took a deep breath and snuggled closer to Steve’s back.

“I wanted to know,” Danny said quietly, “she didn’t. We discussed it for a long time; my argument was that it would be easier to prepare for the baby if we knew what it was. You know, trains and airplanes verses ballerina fairies and teddy bears. She said it was more fun not knowing, and that we could prepare for the baby no matter what the gender was with unisex colors like green and yellow.”

Steve nodded slightly; he supposed he could see the logic behind both choices.

“We eventually compromised. She agreed that if the doctor could see the sex, I could know if I promised not to tell her. I promised and after our next ultrasound the doctor pulled me aside and told me that we were having a girl.”

“Did you let it slip?” Steve asked neutrally. He didn’t want to offend Danny if he hadn’t, but he also didn’t want to upset him if he had. He could only imagine how difficult it must be to keep a secret like that from your partner.

“No,” Danny replied in his usual tone and Steve was glad. “I held that information like it was a top secret classified government document. I still participated in the choosing of a name for both sexes, even suggesting names for boys so she wouldn’t be able to guess.”

“I don’t understand then,” Steve said. “If it worked, why won’t you tell me if you want to know or not?”

“It didn’t work,” Danny told him. “I took on the decoration of the nursery, told her that she could still buy unisex things but that I wanted the baby to sleep in a gender specific room and she agreed. I put a sign on the nursery door that warned anyone and everyone to keep out; I brought items from the store into the house in thick black trash bags so she wouldn’t see that they were girly. She was excited, said it was like getting two surprises.”

“What happened?” Steve asked. He could guess, and he knew that it ended up with Rachel finding out, but he wanted Danny to tell the story. Danny’s voice was soft in his ear, his constantly rubbing hands were relaxing Steve to the point that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get up without massive amounts of help. 

“I decorated on weekends and after work, I always locked the door when I came out and I took the key with me everywhere I went. Rachel’s curiosity would put a cat to shame,” he chuckled. “One Saturday I was in there putting the crib together, it was one of the last finishing touches, when I got a call. We’d been working this underage prostitution case for almost a month and we got a rock solid lead. I hurried out of the house and forgot to lock the nursery door.”

“She went in, didn’t she?”

“She said she didn’t. She said I hadn’t closed the door, but I know that I did. I forgot to lock it because I was in a hurry, but this was my wife’s happiness, I wouldn’t throw that away by being that careless. Of course, over the years I keep getting less and less positive that I heard the door latch closed. She was livid when I got home the next day. She shouted and threw things, threatened to kick me out and file for divorce, she even started pulling my clothes out of the closet before I could get her calmed down. She was so upset, she cried the entire day telling me how I’d ruined her perfect surprise.”

“How you ruined it?” Steve was angry. “She reached out, turned a knob and willingly walked into that nursery. If anyone ruined the surprise it was her. Tell me you don’t blame yourself, Danny.”

“No, I don’t,” Danny replied. “But I’d been so bent on specific things for the baby, and Grace doesn’t even remember what her nursery looked like. It didn’t matter that the walls had pink trim or that her blanket had a fluffy bunny on it. She doesn’t remember the purple curtains or the princess wall decorations. It didn’t matter, and Rachel spent the rest of the pregnancy pissed off and sad at the same time.”

“Danny,” Steve said and sat up, turning to face him. “You know that I’m not like that. I want to know what you want, because I don’t really care one way or the other. If you don’t want to know I’m fine with that, if you do, I’m fine with that too. As long as it’s breathing and has all its parts I’ll be happy.”

“I know, but I don’t want to take anything away from you.”

Steve smiled softly and reached out, putting his hand gently on Danny’s face. “But you are, Danno. I want you to be a part of this pregnancy in every aspect. I want to know what you want too, this is our baby and I don’t want to make any decisions alone.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Now tell me Danny, do you want to know?”

Danny sighed and looked up at the stars, after a long moment he nodded. “Yeah, Steve, I want to know.”

Steve smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “Okay then,” he said and returned to his previous position. “We’ll find out.”

“Thank you,” Danny whispered as he nuzzled Steve’s hair again.

“No, Danny,” Steve replied just as softly. “Thank you.”

\---

Steve lay on the couch and watched Danny pace the length of the coffee table until the movement made him dizzy. They’d been having the check-up’s done right there in the living room for the last couple of months and Dr. Keli’i was on his way over to do their ultrasound.

“What are you so nervous about?” Steve finally asked.

“I’m not nervous,” Danny said and Steve raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay, I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“This is a big day, Steve. We’re about to find out if we’re having a son or a daughter, we’ll be able to choose a specific name, paint the nursery, really get ready.”

“That’s true, so why are you nervous instead of excited?” Steve asked.

“Because babies don’t always cooperate during these things, Steve. It could be turned so we can’t see it, have its legs crossed, anything.”

Steve chuckled and patted his belly, “Okay baby, I want you to face the front and do your best porn star pose so daddy can see what you are.”

“That was highly inappropriate,” Danny said, but he was smiling so Steve counted it as a win. 

Danny jumped almost a full foot in the air when there was a knock on the door. Steve watched him hurry over to answer it and was surprised to see Kono and Jenna standing there.

“What are you guys doing here?” Steve asked, sitting up just a little.

“Danny mentioned that you guys were finding out the sex today,” Kono said with a smile.

“We wanted to be here,” Jenna added. “Now that we know you’re pregnant, you’re not getting rid of us.”

“Great,” Danny sighed and moved over to sit on the end of the couch. Steve lifted his feet and put them down on Danny’s lap. “No Chin?”

Jenna and Kono closed the door behind them and shared the one remaining seat in the living room. “He didn’t want to come,” Kono told them. “He said he’d feel awkward.”

The next time there was a knock on the door, Jenna got up to answer it.

“Wow, we have a bigger audience this time,” Keli’i said as he walked through the door. He had a medical bag in one hand and a portable ultrasound machine in the other. 

“Want some tea, doc?” Danny asked and moved to get up.

“No, thank you, Steve looks much too comfortable for you to move,” he chuckled. “Why don’t we just get started?”

“Okay,” Steve agreed and lifted his shirt above his belly. He might have been embarrassed to show his belly in front of the women, but the little squeak from Jenna made it impossible to have any emotion other than amusement.

Keli’i set up his machine on the coffee table, ran the long cord across the room and plugged it in. “This machine isn’t as good as the larger one,” he said when he came back and started turning things on. “We might not be able to see the sex, but we’ll do what we can.”

“And if we can’t see it?” Kono asked.

The doctor looked at Kono and then to Steve and Danny. Steve smiled; Keli’i took doctor/patient confidentiality to a whole new level. “It’s okay, doc,” Steve reassured him. “This is Kono and Jenna, two members of my team. You can answer her question.”

He nodded and started rubbing his hands together. “If we can’t see it, then we’ll set up an appointment for you on a day when the office is usually closed.” He turned to look at Jenna and Kono, “It’s obvious that Steve and Danny don’t mind that you’re here, so I don’t mind either. If you’d like to watch I expect you to stay out of the way. You may have a better view from behind the sofa, I’ll not turn the machine for you to see.”

Steve looked at Danny and grinned. “You think we should introduce him to Max?”

“I think they’d get along perfectly,” Danny replied.

“I’m sure you mean Max Bergman the M.E, and if so you don’t have to bother, I’ve known him for years,” the doctor replied with a smile. “Any questions or concerns, Steve?”

“No, I think everything is good, except that my back hurts more often than not and my feet keep swelling up.”

Keli’i nodded, “the swelling may be a sign that your blood pressure is heightened. I’ll check it after the ultrasound and I’ll leave a cuff with Danny, I’d like you to keep an eye on that. I may need to put you on blood pressure medication for the rest of the pregnancy if it is a problem.” 

“Alright,” Steve replied.

The doctor began pressing on Steve’s stomach as he usually did and after a moment he nodded and made an affirmative sound. “It feels like the baby is facing your left side,” he said.

“No, you’re wrong,” Danny said.

“I’m sorry?” Keli’i asked.

“I sleep on his right side, I usually have my hand on his stomach and trust me… it’s facing the right.”

“I see, well it’s possible that I am wrong, at this point I doubt the baby is tossing and turning. How about we get to the ultrasound?”

“Yes, please,” Danny said eagerly. 

Keli’i smeared the goop all over Steve’s stomach and grabbed the wand. “Here we go,” he said as he pressed it to Steve’s stomach.

The image appeared immediately and the women gasped at the sight. “Oh look, it’s sucking its little thumb,” Kono said. 

“And it looks like it’s flipping us off,” Steve observed and pointed to what looked like the middle finger sticking almost straight up. 

“Oh yeah, it’s definitely Danny’s kid,” Jenna joked. “Only someone from New Jersey could make a kid that flips the bird in the womb.”

“Hey!” Danny protested and glared at her. 

“Okay, moment of truth,” Keli’i said and Steve watched as the image moved smoothly, showing the curve of the baby’s back.

“Whoa!” Kono shouted and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth. 

“Yeah, definitely Steve’s kid too,” Jenna chuckled.

“There is absolutely no doubt that you’re having a son,” Keli’i said and froze the image.

“And he’s packed!” Danny agreed and smiled at Steve, “just like his daddy.” 

“Danny,” Steve admonished, “Kono and Jenna are here.”

“I know,” Danny smiled wider. “But they already made it known that they’ve noticed… you know, cargo pants and all.”

“I’m changing my wardrobe as soon as I get my figure back,” Steve laughed.

“Please don’t,” Jenna said quietly.

“Hey,” Steve and Danny said at the same time.

Jenna blushed and looked at Kono, “We’re having a nephew.”

“He’ll be the crown prince of Five-0,” Kono agreed. 

“Hell,” Danny said looking back at the image; it had gone back to the baby’s head. “He’ll be the ruler of Hawaii.” 

“And all the land will be happy and at peace,” Steve added. He looked at Danny, smiling, “we’re having a son, Danno.”

\---

Chin, Kono and Jenna had all showed up on Steve’s doorstep at noon and by three they were all sitting in the backyard while Danny grilled their dinner.

“What about William?” Kono asked out of nowhere.

“Who’s William?” Steve asked. 

“The baby, Steve, what do you think about the name William?”

Steve shook his head as he took a drink from his glass.

“Absolutely not,” Danny said from his place at the grill. “We aren’t naming him William Williams.” 

“You could give him Steve’s last name,” Jenna suggested.

“Danny and I already agreed that he’d be a Williams,” Steve said. “That way he and Grace would have the same last name. Besides, it couldn’t be William McGarrett, too many M’s.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Chin asked.

“Steve has these rules,” Danny said. “The first name can’t end in the same letter that the middle or last name starts with.”

“It makes sense!” Steve argued. “Say it… William McGarrett. It sounds like one long name, there’s nothing to break it up.” He looked around at his team, “What?” he asked when they all started laughing. “It’s a good rule.”

The conversation shifted after that, and names weren’t brought back up until Danny had cleared the dinner plates and the beers were brought out for everyone but Steve. 

“How about Ekewaka?” Jenna asked looking at her phone. “It means wealthy protector.”

“Do you have a baby names app?” Steve asked as he leaned over and tried to see the phone.

“Just downloaded it, it’s just the free version,” she told them.

“What was that name?” Danny asked as he came back out into the yard.

“Ekewaka,” Jenna repeated.

“No, it sounds like something an Ewok would say.”

“An Ewok?” she asked.

“Yes, an Ewok, and we’re not naming my baby after a furry alien. Not to mention,” he added. “The meaning is stupid, what does being wealthy have to do with being a protector?”

“If you like protector,” Steve offered, “how about Alekanekelo? It just means protector. You could call him Alec.”

“I hate the name Alec,” Danny told him. “It sounds incomplete.”

“Well in that case it would be incomplete; it’d be short for something.”

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Okay,” Steve said and looked at Chin. “What do you think?”

Chin looked up from his bottle, obviously not really wanting to be drawn into this conversation. “Hmm,” he hummed after a moment. “Anuenue Akua, it means Rainbow’s Spirit.”

“Yeah,” Danny said and finally sat down beside Steve. “I’d kind of like to be able to pronounce his name.”

“Well then you suggest something,” Steve said and leaned a little closer to Danny on the long bench they were sitting on.

“Oh I’ve been making a list,” Danny told him. “I just wasn’t aware that naming our baby was going to be a team effort.”

“They’re not naming him, Danny, they’re just making suggestions. We can take them or not, but the actual choosing of a name is our choice.”

Danny sighed and closed his eyes for a second. “Well, I kind of like Aaron.”

“That’s good for a middle name,” Steve told him, “but I don’t really like it for a first name.”

“Okay then, what about Jacob?”

“Hate it,” Steve said quickly.

“Quinn?”

“Talk about names sounding incomplete.”

Kono chuckled. “You know guys, at this rate he’ll be fifteen before you can agree on a name.

Steve sighed, Kono was right. They had talked about names a few times since they found out about the pregnancy and they’d never actually found one they agreed on. “Jenna, what’s the name of that app you downloaded?”

She smiled, “just search for baby names. There are a bunch of them in the app store.”

Steve started the search right away and had downloaded three different baby names programs by the time the team left an hour later. He was in bed with his phone by nine o’clock. He looked over at the paper that he’d listed his favorites on and sighed, it was ridiculously long. He’d always known that a lot of thought had to be put into a name, but he hadn’t ever imagined that it would be so hard. 

“What about McGarrett Williams?” Danny asked as he walked out of the bathroom. He smelled like mint toothpaste and mouthwash.

“We’re not naming our son McGarrett, it’s stupid.”

Danny chuckled as he climbed into the bed and kissed Steve softly. “I didn’t mean for a first name, Steve. I was talking about hyphenating his last name.”

“Oh,” Steve said and blushed a little. “I don’t mind his last name being Williams.” He told Danny. “But hyphenating it seems like it would be torture for him when he learns to write it. His last name would be seventeen letters long.”

Danny smiled and nodded, “Okay, I just don’t want you to feel cheated.”

“I don’t, Danny. I didn’t argue when you suggested the last name thing, and it makes sense for him and Grace to share a last name. They’re siblings after all.”

Danny kissed him again and reached over to get the note pad. “Damn, Steve,” he said when he looked at the list. “How many names are you planning on giving him?”

“Just two,” Steve told him, “but I can’t decide.”

“Sebastian, you like that name?”

“I do, it sounds strong. You don’t like it do you?”

Danny hissed in a short breath and shook his head. “Not really, and I don’t like Lucas or Marcus either.”

Steve shook his head and reached over to mark those names off the list.

“What’s this one?” Danny asked and pointed at the name Kanoa.

“It’s Hawaiian, it means the free one. My mom wanted that to be my name but dad shut her down. He said Kanoa McGarrett sounded awful.”

“It kind of does,” Danny agreed.

“Yeah, but I like the name. You don’t, right?”

“Well not for a first name that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t necessarily mind it as a middle name. You know, as long as it sounds good after the name we choose.” 

“Ok, so we’ll keep it as a maybe.”

“Yeah,” Danny looked at Steve, can I borrow your pen?” he asked.

Steve nodded and handed the pen to Danny and watched as he marked off Dante, Wesley, Saxon, Damien, Fynn and Malcolm. He looked at it for a long moment and then marked off Kavan, Dagan, Inness, Ewan, Donovan, Marek, Mason and Zander.

“Shit, Danny, that’s all the names.”

“All of them except Declan.”

Steve took the pad, looked at the name and shrugged. “Declan Kanoa Williams?”

Danny looked at him and smiled. “I think we just named our son, Steve.”

Steve smiled back and nodded, “Seems that way doesn’t it?”

Danny patted Steve’s stomach and leaned over close. “Hey there, Declan, it’s nice to meet you.” 

Steve chuckled and put a hand on the back of Danny’s head. “Declan,” he said softly. “I like it.”

“Me too,” Danny replied.

\---

Steve sighed and rubbed his belly. He was eight and a half months along now and all the major milestones of a pregnancy had passed. He’d had the morning sickness, being overly emotional and the cravings. He dealt with the achy back and swollen feet, both of which he suffered through on a daily basis still. There was only one month left until the date Keli’i set for the cesarean, and they hadn’t done anything to prepare for Declan’s arrival. 

He leaned against the wall in the hallway and stared at the door across from him. He knew what the room inside looked like; he’d seen it every day of his childhood. Right up until the day his dad sent him and Mary away. It was bare now, most of his things had been boxed up and put in the garage a long time ago and what his father hadn’t thrown out, he had. He hadn’t wanted those memories haunting him every day for the rest of his life. He and Danny shared his parent’s old room and Mary’s room had been turned into Grace’s room, but his childhood room hadn’t been touched in years. Now, though, they had the perfect use for it. He sighed as he stepped forward and hung the giant blue bow on the door, this was for Danny.

“Hey, babe,” Danny called as he came into the house. “Where are you?”

“Upstairs,” Steve replied and a moment later Danny was turning the corner into the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Danny asked as he looked at the door with the bow on it.

Steve smiled and pointed, “I want you to decorate the nursery,” he said.

“Steve, I thought we’d do that together.”

“Danny I can’t paint, and I can’t lift or bend or twist. All I could really do is sit in a stupidly comfortable rocking chair that I’m sure you’ll choose for me and tell you where to put things.”

“Steve,”

“Danny, I want this for you. I want this to be the memory you should have had the first time, and I promise I won’t look, even if you don’t lock the door.”

“Steve, I-”

“Do this for me, Danny. Do it for us, for Declan. He may not remember what was on his blanket or his walls, but I will.” His voice was thick with emotion and he watched Danny look from him to the door. “Please?”

Finally, Danny smiled, closed the distance between the two of them and pulled Steve into his arms. “Of course I’ll do it,” he said and kissed Steve softly on the mouth. 

“Good,” Steve said and leaned a little closer to Danny. “Now I’ve been standing here for twenty minutes trying to decide how you’d take that, my feet hurt and I want to lie down. I want you to come with me because I think I might feel a little pressure building and I’ll need some help relieving it.”

Danny laughed and kissed Steve again. “Who would ever think that a sentence like that would be so fucking hot?” he asked as he led Steve into their bedroom.

\---

Steve had just enjoyed the best pregnant orgasm of his life when the answering machine kicked on.

“Hey Steve,” Mary’s voice rang through the living room where Steve was sprawled completely naked on the couch. “I hope everything is alright, I called your cell like a million times and you haven’t answered it. You’re not answering the house phone either I see…”

Steve groaned and looked at Danny who was kneeling on the floor in front of the couch with his head pillowed on Steve’s thighs. “Crap,” he said, “Mary.”

“Anyway,” Mary continued speaking. “I’m in town and I’ll be at the house in about twenty minutes. Don’t lecture me about not calling first, like I said, I called a million times. See you soon.”

Approximately ten seconds after Mary hung up, there was a knock on the door.

“Twenty minutes my ass!” Steve shouted and sat up as fast as he could, which wasn’t fast at all. “Don’t come in!” 

“What the fuck, Steve?” Danny asked as he started frantically helping Steve put his pants back on.

“I don’t know,” Steve replied, pulling his shirt over his head. “I don’t control her.”

“Hey boss,” Kono’s voice came through the door.

“Great,” Danny sighed and moved over to the door. He looked back at Steve to make sure he was fully dressed then turned back toward the door. “Just what we need right now,” he said to the wood.

Steve was begrudging the loss of his post orgasmic cuddle before returning the favor, when Danny opened the door. Kono and Jenna were each carrying brightly colored gift bags while Chin followed them, completely loaded down with everything else.

“Don’t close the door, Danny,” Chin huffed as he sat his load down. “There’s a lot more in their cars.”

“What the hell is all this?” Steve asked, absolutely refusing to cross his arms over his chest like a five year old. He hated pouting, but that was exactly what he was doing. 

“It’s your baby shower!” Jenna informed them happily.

“Is this a bad time?” Chin asked as he stretched his back.

“Yes!” Steve said grumpily.

“No, Chin,” Danny corrected. “This is as good a time as any.”

“Danny, do you realize how long it’s been since-”

“Maybe we should come back,” Chin interrupted before Steve could finish.

“No, Steve’s just being a baby,” Danny said. “Besides, showers should be held before the baby is born and we’re running out of time before that happens. Not to mention, Mary’s coming.”

“Correction, Mary is here.”

Everyone turned to see Mary standing in the open door. Her face went blank when her eyes fell on Steve. “Steve?” she questioned.

“We should totally come back later,” Kono said and started for the door.

“What’s going on?” Mary asked.

“Kono, you guys stay, Mary and I will go in the kitchen and talk.”

“What the hell _is_ this, Steve?” Mary asked as she watched Steve struggle to get off the couch. 

Steve ignored the question until he and Mary were in the kitchen. It wasn’t that far away from the living room and Steve knew everyone in there would hear every word of their conversation. That didn’t matter though; he didn’t feel like waddling up the stairs in front of his sister. 

“Steve?” Mary asked again, it wasn’t worry he heard in her voice, but there was something there that he couldn’t place. It wasn’t anger, but maybe it came close, possibly disbelief or disappointment. 

“Don’t ask me how this happened, Mary, because I don’t know.”

“Tell me this isn’t what it looks like,” she said as she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

“If it looks like I’m pregnant, then I can’t tell you that,” he replied flatly.

“Why are you doing this?” In that moment, Steve recognized that it was hurt he was hearing in her tone.

“What do you mean? Doing what?”

“You’ve always known that I didn’t want kids. After the way dad treated us, how could I? And yes, I know now that he had reasons for what he did, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m bitter about not having him around.”

Steve bit his lip; he couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten the abortion Mary had not long after he’d sent her back to LA. The tears he’d shed for his sister as she sobbed to him over the phone shouldn’t have been so easily erased from his memory. “Mary-”

“You can’t make me feel any guiltier than I already do,” she interrupted him. “It hurts that you’d even try, and that you’d get the entire team here to see my reaction. I asked you not to tell them.”

“I didn’t, Mary. I didn’t even tell Danny.”

“Oh please, don’t treat me like an idiot, Steve. I know you tell him everything, the fact that you and he are lovers was never a secret.”

“Mary, listen to me. I’m not pulling a prank on you, I would never do that. Not about anything this serious, anyway. I’m pregnant, I don’t know how, but here it is.” He lifted his shirt so she could see that it wasn’t a suit.

Her face went slack again, but she pushed off the counter and took a step toward him. “Oh my God, Steve,” she whispered. “How?”

“I told you that I don’t know. Believe me, what you went through wasn’t even on my mind when I heard your message. If I’d been sensitive enough to have thought about it, I’d have done this in a much gentler way. I’m not trying to hurt you.”

She didn’t say anything; she just looked at her brother and reached out to touch his exposed belly. “Holy shit,” she finally managed. 

“Tell me about it,” he said. He felt awkward standing in the kitchen with his sister touching his stomach, but he didn’t pull his shirt down. He felt awful for what Mary had just gone through and she deserved his support as much as he wanted hers. “I’m sorry I forgot.”

She looked up at him, not moving her hand. “Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked softly.

“Boy, we’re naming him Declan. Declan Kanoa Williams.”

“So it’s Danny’s baby?”

“Of course it is, Mary, how many men do think I’m sleeping with? I mean, granted I didn’t know that this was ever going to be an issue, but trust me, I’m a one man guy.”

She chuckled and finally moved her hand away from his stomach. She crossed her arms again and went back over to the counter to lean. “So were you ever going to tell me that I’m having a nephew?” she asked, and it seemed like all the hurt and betrayal had drained away, Steve was glad for that.

“Yeah, but not until after he was born and I wouldn’t have to explain this to you.”

“To be honest, Steve, I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me over the phone, and I wouldn’t have packed up and flew out here just because you asked. You’ve never asked to see me so I’d have known something was up.”

“I’m glad you’re here though. Now that the explaining is over and you’ve moved past thinking I was trying to trick you.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry, Mary. I’m sure if our roles were somehow reversed, I’d have thought the same thing. I’m sorry you went through that.”

“I’m not. Yeah it hurt, and it still does and I feel awful, especially after remembering all that stuff mom said about kids being a blessing. I’d have been a terrible mother though; I’m still too wrapped up in myself and what I want.”

“At least you recognize that.”

“I could have had the baby though. Giving it up for adoption would have been better than-”

“Mary don’t. Don’t torture yourself; you made the best decision for you. I don’t blame you and I don’t think anything differently than I used to.”

“Thanks, Steve,” she said and hugged him. “Now what’s going on out there?” she nodded toward the living room.

“Oh, apparently Kono and Jenna are throwing me a baby shower. Wanna stay?”

“Will there be cake?”

“There better be.”

“Well if there is, then yeah, I want to stay. I didn’t get you anything though.”

He laughed and shook his head, “That’s okay, you didn’t know what you were coming into.”

“Well that’s true. Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you… maybe pull your shirt back down? You’re belly button is all stretched and weird looking. It’s kind of freaking me out.”

Steve chuckled as he pulled his shirt down to cover his belly. “I can’t even see it anymore.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“Shut up, let’s go in there and make sure we’re getting cake out of this thing.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mary said. She linked her arm with Steve’s and they walked back into the living room.

“Everything okay?” Danny asked when Steve and Mary walked over to the group.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Steve said and pulled Danny close. He looked directly at Jenna and pointed his finger at her. “Mary and I discussed it, and we expect cake.” 

“And I won’t disappoint,” Jenna replied. “What’s a baby shower without cake?” 

\---

“What’s he doing up there?” Mary asked when they heard a loud bang from the second floor. 

“Decorating the nursery,” Steve answered her and took another bite of his sandwich. “Thanks for making lunch, Mare.”

“No problem,” she replied and sat down across the table from him. “Is he going to be up there all day? I made him a sandwich too.”

Steve smiled at how quickly Mary had accepted Danny as part of her family. She’d said that the two of them being together hadn’t been a secret, but they hadn’t lived together the last time Mary saw them. Now, not only did they live together, but Mary’s old room had been turned into Grace’s and she hadn’t had a problem with that either. “I don’t know,” he finally answered her question. “You could go ask him, just make sure you knock first and let him know it’s you.”

“Why?”

“It’s a surprise; I don’t want to see the nursery until he’s finished with it.”

“Is that code for come down right away and tell me everything you saw?” she asked with a smile. “Like when we were kids and mom let us help her wrap each other’s Christmas gifts?”

“No,” Steve said. “I didn’t want you to tell me then either but you did anyway. I was so disappointed when I woke up Christmas morning and knew everything I was getting.”

“You didn’t know about the bike in the garage, or the dart board, or the air gun dad got you that one year.”

“That’s because mom and dad knew that you had a big mouth.”

Maybe,” she replied. “Or maybe I just kept the things I knew you really wanted a secret.”

Steve chuckled and took another bite. “Go see if Danny wants to eat.” 

\---

Steve opened his eyes to a completely dark room; his stomach was tighter than it should have been. He turned over onto his side like Danny had told him to do when he got a cramp, and took a deep breath, pulling his knees up as high as they would go. This cramp was a little more intense than any he’d had before, but it didn’t exactly hurt and with a few more deep breaths it passed just like all the others. 

He relaxed and took another deep breath before straightening his legs and rolling onto his back again. He wasn’t able to go back to sleep, his stomach was still tight and uncomfortable and Declan was kickboxing with his organs. He rolled his head back and sighed, his hand firmly rubbing his tight stomach to ease the discomfort. His mouth was dry and his stomach was beginning to tighten again. Rolling back onto his side, Steve reached for his water glass and lifted it off the table.

“Motherfucker!” Steve grunted, dropping the glass as his stomach clenched. 

“Steve?” Danny asked as he sat up, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“Jesus! Fuck!” Steve cursed and fisted the sheet covering the side of the mattress.

“Oh fuck, Steve,” Danny whispered. “I’m calling Keli’i.”

“He’s not due for another three weeks, Danny. Keli’i set the operation for the earliest he was comfortable with.”

“Doesn’t matter, Steve, Declan has other plans.” Steve felt Danny get off the bed and a moment later he was kneeling beside Steve, his phone in his hand. “You’re in labor,” Danny said as he dialed. “Maybe the doc can get it stopped, but either way, I’m taking you in. Yeah, doc,” he continued into the phone. “He’s in labor now. Alright, I’ll have him there in five.” Danny hung up the phone and hurried over to the dresser.

“This isn’t good, Danny. He shouldn’t be born yet.” The pain was easing again and Steve rolled up into a sitting position as Danny came back with a pair of sweat pants. 

“I know, Steve,” Danny replied, helping Steve get dressed. “But there isn’t anything we can do about it. It’s up to the doctor now, but he’s a good one, so I’m not sure we should worry just yet.”

Steve pushed his arms through the sleeves of his tee shirt and looked at Danny. “Danny, what if his lungs aren’t developed? Or what if his-”

“Steve,” Danny interrupted him, putting his hands on the sides of Steve’s face and forcing Steve to look at him. “It’s going to be okay.”

“That’s not something you can promise, Danny. There are so many things that can go wrong when a baby is born too early. If Keli’i can’t stop the labor, if Declan comes tonight… Danny…” He trailed off and hissed in a breath, leaning forward as another pain hit him.

“We have to go, Steve,” Danny said frantically and helped Steve off the bed. 

Steve blew out a breath as Danny helped him ease into the passenger seat of Danny’s car. The pain was easing again but his stomach was still entirely too uncomfortable. “Danny,” Steve said when Danny slid in behind the wheel. “Danny, I’m… I’m afraid… for Declan.”

Danny sighed and turned to face Steve. He reached across the empty space and took Steve’s hand. “Listen babe, just a minute ago you said that I couldn’t promise you that everything would be okay. Well I’m here to tell you that I can promise that. I am _promising_ you that Declan and you will both be perfectly fine. He’s our baby, Steve; he’s made from you and me and look at us. I am so devoted to my family that I crossed an ocean just to be with my daughter every other weekend. I left everything I knew and loved to follow her. I’m strong emotionally, and in my resolve to have the best for me and my family. You… You’re a super SEAL, a ninja; you’re something straight out of a myth. You’re strong physically and Declan is a part of you. He’s strong, crazy strong, and even if he has to be born tonight, he will be fine. How could he not be?” 

Danny smiled at Steve, nodded slightly and let go of Steve’s hand to pull out onto the street. Steve had to admit that Danny’s speech had made him feel a little better. He made a mental note to tell Danny when this was all over, that he was strong in so many more ways than just emotionally. Danny was without a doubt the strongest person Steve had even known. His train of thought was interrupted as he was wracked with another pain and he gripped the arm rest until his knuckles turned white. 

Thanks to heavy Friday night traffic, the five minute trip to the doctor’s office took almost fifteen minutes. Steve was cursing in every language he knew by the time Danny parked the car. 

The operation wasn’t scheduled for another three weeks, and it was set for a Saturday, a day when the office was usually closed. As it stood now, Steve and Danny had to sneak in through the back entrance because, according to Keli’i, half of his patients decided that tonight was a good time to be sick. 

Danny wheeled Steve into the building. Steve was covered with a blanket with a paper grocery sack filled with baby things clutched in front of his belly. It had been Danny’s idea, hoping to at least partially conceal the fact that Steve had a pregnant belly. They’d chosen the grocery sack rather than a diaper bag just in case someone saw them going into the office. Of course that decision had been made several weeks ago, before they thought that they’d need something that Steve’s fingers wouldn’t poke through when he was hit with labor pains. 

When they reached the third floor office, a nurse met them outside the elevator and led them into a room. Steve could hear Keli’i apologizing to his patients, telling them that an emergency had come up and the time it would take them to be seen had just gotten longer. 

“How long has he been having pains?” Keli’i asked when he finally came into the room. Steve was already in his paper gown and on the bed, curled on his side and clutching his belly. 

“About half an hour?” Danny asked looking at Steve. “I’m not completely sure because the idiot suffered for a while before waking me up.”

The doctor ordered Steve to roll over, and then slipped an elastic belt under Steve’s back, bringing the sides together over his belly and connected it snugly over two small oval shaped objects. He connected the wires coming out of the ovals into the machine beside the bed and the now familiar sound of Declan’s heartbeat filled the room. “How far apart are the contractions?” the doctor asked, his brow furrowed.

“Not very far,” Steve grunted through clenched teeth. 

“Everything we’ve read said that this was supposed to start slow. Rachel’s first pains were almost twenty minutes apart,” Danny said. 

Keli’i nodded but didn’t speak as he put an IV needle in Steve’s arm. “I’ve started him on a medication to stop the labor, but with the contractions being this close together I’m not sure it’s going to work.” The doctor moved over to the machine and worried over the thin strip of paper that was steadily rolling out.

Steve relaxed as the pain passed and he reached out and grabbed the doctor’s wrist. “What will happen if he’s born tonight?” he asked, his voice wavering a bit with fear for his son. 

Keli’i shook his head and turned his attention back to Steve, “it’s hard to say with your pregnancy, Steve. In a normal pregnancy birth at 34 weeks wouldn’t be a huge cause for concern although it is rather early. He’ll be small and will most likely need to be in an incubator for awhile. He may have trouble breathing on his own since technically he isn’t due to breathe air for another 6 weeks. In all the ultrasounds we’ve done, his heart sounded strong so I doubt that will be a problem, although we’ll want to keep an eye on it, it’s stressful on a baby’s body to be born preterm.”

“Give it to us straight Doc,” Danny interrupted. “Don’t sugar coat it, we need to know what to expect.”

The doctor sighed and nodded again. “Alright, you’re lucky this didn’t happen sooner. 34 weeks is at the later end of preterm birth,” he spoke as he checked Steve’s vital signs. “There are problems that may not be evident at birth. He could suffer from mental retardation, have problems with his sight or his hearing and possibly even have autism. There really is no way to tell any of those things right away. Ideally, I’d like to keep him inside as long as possible, thirty seven weeks is as early as I’d like to go. If he is born tonight, or any time before the scheduled appointment, I’ll focus on his heart and lungs. His muscles may be weak, but that’s nothing that a little infant exercise wouldn’t fix.” 

“Is there anything I need to do to help stop the labor?” Steve asked, taking hold of Danny’s hand.

“Stay calm and as relaxed as possible. Whatever you have to do to achieve that is fine. We can dim the lights, play soft music, whatever you need.” Keli’i moved back over to the machine and looked at the paper for a moment longer before turning back toward Steve and Danny. “I’ve got to go get a few things prepared in case we can’t get the labor stopped. If you need anything just press the call button.”

“Thanks Doc,” Danny said as the doctor left the room. 

“Danny,” Steve whimpered as Danny dimmed the lights in the room. He was back at Steve’s side in a matter of seconds, grasping Steve’s hand gently.

“I know, babe,” Danny said softly. “I know.”

\---

Steve didn’t remember falling asleep, but he was woken by a shrill beeping coming from the machine beside the bed. “Danny,” he said, reaching out for his lover before his eyes were even fully open.

“I’m right here, babe,” Danny replied before calling for the doctor, but Keli’i was already rushing through the door and over to the machine.

“Shaina!” the doctor called out as he began unstrapping the belt from around Steve’s belly.

“What’s going on?” Danny asked frantically. 

Steve squeezed Danny’s hand and stared at the doctor, his heart tight in his chest.

“He’s in distress, he’s got to come out,” Keli’i said as he rolled Steve’s bed toward the door. 

“Distress?” Steve asked, “What does that mean?”

The doctor didn’t answer him as he rushed Steve down the hall, Shaina the nurse steering the bed from the other end and Danny running alongside.

“Danny?” 

Steve recognized Kono’s voice and gripped Danny’s hand tighter.

“I called your phone and you didn’t answer,” Kono said as she hurried to catch up to the bed. “I thought something might be wrong.”

“There is,” Danny said as he dug into his pocket. Steve saw him toss his cell phone to Kono. “Call everyone who was at the shower; tell them Declan’s coming tonight,” Danny called as they were pushed into another room. 

Everything was a blur as Steve was stripped naked and a thin yellow shower cap was shoved onto his head and Danny was held back as Steve was rolled into yet another room. “Danny,” he called and reached out.

“I’m sorry, Detective Williams,” the nurse said in a rush, “You’ll have to wait outside.”

“But that’s my baby!” Steve heard Danny shout just before a mask covered his mouth and nose. 

A moment later the world was gone. 

\---

Steve squeezed his eyes tight as sound and pain washed over him. “Danny,” he grunted softly, barely able to take a breath.

“Right here, babe,” he heard Danny say and an instant later Steve’s hand was being held in a firm grip.

Steve forced himself to open his eyes, thankfully the room was dim, and saw Danny standing beside him. He took a shuddering breath as he looked at Danny, he looked tired and pale.

“You had me worried for awhile,” Danny whispered and Steve thought he sounded like he was still worried.

“Declan?” Steve asked.

Danny leaned down to kiss Steve’s forehead. “He was taken to the hospital, Rachel and Grace are there with him.”

Steve felt everything inside him shrink and shift. “Why?” he asked after a long moment of trying to take a breath.

Danny sighed and sat down in the chair beside the bed, his hand never leaving Steve’s. “He was very small, Steve and… Keli’i said that he had the cord wrapped around his neck. That’s why he was in distress. They said he wasn’t breathing when they pulled him out and his heartbeat had dropped pretty low.”

“Is he okay?” Steve asked, tightening his grip painfully on Danny’s hand, Danny didn’t pull away. 

“Rachel said they’ve got him on a breathing tube and he’s not eating on his own. But the doctor’s are saying that his heartbeat is strong and they’re hopeful that everything will be fine.”

“Have you seen him?” Steve asked.

“No, not yet. I wanted to stay with you.”

“How long?”

“You’ve been out for about eighteen hours.”

“Jesus, Danny!” Steve cursed. “You should be with him.”

“Now that you’re awake, we can both go be with him.”

“Get Keli’i, I want out of here, now,” Steve demanded as he pushed past the pain and into a sitting position.

“Steve, you can’t leave right now,” the doctor said as he came into the room before Danny had even pressed the button.

“No, Doc,” Steve protested as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I’m leaving. Danny, get my clothes.”

The doctor placed his hand on Steve’s chest and gently but firmly kept him from getting up. “Steven, you’ve just gone through what I’d consider major surgery. You’re a man and you just gave birth to a baby, you have a fresh incision. You need to rest.” 

Steve pushed the hand away and stood up with a grimace and only a little help from Danny. He walked over to stand in front of the doctor. He stopped only inches away from him. “I gave birth to my son more than eighteen hours ago,” Steve growled. “My incision is almost a day old, and my son is lying alone in a cold hospital with a breathing tube in his nose and neither of his parents there to support him. If you expect me to stay in that bed I hope you have some heavy duty sedatives and the strongest cuffs known to mankind. I’m leaving right now, I’m going to be with my son and there isn’t one god damned thing you can do to stop me.”

To the doctor’s credit, he gave a tight nod and stepped out of the way. Danny hurried over to the cabinet and gathered Steve’s clothes and the paper grocery bag. 

Twenty minutes after that, Danny was pulling into the lot of the hospital. 

\---

Steve gritted his teeth at the pain in his belly as Danny pushed the wheelchair toward the elevator. He wanted to be on his feet, but the chair was the only stipulation Keli’i had had to Steve leaving. Steve had stood in front of the doctor for less than a minute, telling him that he was leaving and when he’d been met in the hall with a wheelchair, Steve was all too ready to sit down.

He sucked in a breath as the elevator doors opened onto the third floor and the sound of crying infants smacked him in the face, he knew his son wasn’t among those he heard. He hated all the women on the maternity floor, hated that they’d had normal pregnancies and that their baby boys and girls were able to cry. He hated that tomorrow those women would be taking their sons and daughters home and laying them in their newly decorated nurseries while Declan would still be in a little glass box struggling to survive.

“Danny.”

Steve looked up to see Rachel standing a few feet in front of them, Grace leaning against her side, and for a fleeting moment, Steve hated her too. It passed quickly though. As soon as she reached out and touched his hand with a soft smile on her face, Steve realized that without Rachel and Grace there would be no Danny or Declan.

“How are you, Steve?” Rachel asked gently.

“Not too good actually,” Steve replied and nodded toward the door behind Rachel. “Is he in there?”

She nodded and moved out of the way. “The nurses think you’ve just undergone surgery for a gunshot wound. It was all I could think of.”

Steve nodded and gave her hand a soft squeeze. “No that’s good. We never planned for anything like this, thank you for being here for him.”

“I can’t think of a place I’d rather be.” She smiled at him for a moment before pulling her hand away. She gave him a light hug before doing the same to Danny. “He’s in there waiting for you; you don’t want to keep him waiting for long. If he’s anything like his fathers, he’s likely rather impatient.”

Steve nodded and looked at Grace. “You doing okay kid?” he asked.

“They wouldn’t let me in there,” she told him sadly. “They said I have too many germs.”

Steve watched as Danny knelt down and pulled her into his arms. “They’re probably right,” he told her. “But I promise you that as soon as he’s strong enough, you’ll be the first to hold him.”

“Really?” she asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Steve told her as he reached out to take Danny’s hand. “You’re his big sister, he’s going to need a lot from you.”

She smiled and nodded at them. 

“Come on, Danno, let’s go see our son.”

\---

“Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams,” a young nurse greeted them as they came through the door. “I’m glad your surgery went well. Your son’s birthday isn’t the best day to be shot,” she spoke nervously. “But I suppose it goes along with your job, and to your credit, you didn’t know he’d be born yet.”

Steve looked at the woman with a blank stare for a long moment before shaking off her ignorance. “Where is he?” he asked.

“Right, sorry. He’s right over here.” She led them across the room to one of the incubators.

The first thing Steve noticed aside from how small he was and the shock of dark hair peeking out from beneath the yellow cap on his tiny head was the name on the card taped to the glass. 

**Declan McGarrett**

“The name’s wrong,” Steve told her flatly.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Mrs. Edwards told us you’d called him Declan.”

“We did,” Steve said, he still hadn’t taken his eyes off the tiny body inside the glass box. “His name is Declan Williams.”

He heard a gasp of air beside him before the tag was pulled off the glass. “I apologize,” the nurse said. “I wasn’t aware.”

“Not many people are.” Steve felt a soft touch on his arm and looked to his left to see the young woman kneeling beside him. 

“You won’t get any grief from me,” she said softly. “My brother is gay and a Marine. Even with the repeal of DADT he still gets a lot of trouble from the others. I think the two of you adopting a baby is wonderful and I wish you the best of luck.”

As she got up and walked away, ripping the little blue card into pieces as she went, Steve thought she may have just redeemed at least a little of her ignorance. He didn’t see any reason to correct her by saying Declan wasn’t adopted, everyone who mattered knew the truth. 

\---

Steve looked over at Danny who’d fallen asleep in the rocking chair at the end of the incubator. They’d been sitting there staring at their baby for just over an hour, and as he watched Danny sleep and listened to his soft snores he realized that he must have been awake since the labor had started. He smiled fondly and looked back at Declan. 

Opening the small circular window, Steve reached in and petted his son’s tiny hand. “Forgive your daddy,” he said softly. “He’s just tired. We’ve been waiting a long time for you, Declan.” He took a deep breath and moved his wheelchair a little closer to the open window. “Listen, I know you’re tired too, the last day has been pretty stressful on you. I want you to just rest, get strong and know that Daddy and I are here when you wake up. No pressure, no hurry, just sleep and grow and get ready for the rest of your life.”

“He’s strong, Steve,” Danny said and Steve felt Danny’s hands on his shoulders. 

“I know,” Steve said, reaching up to take one of Danny’s hands. He brought it to his lips and kissed its back, “he’s just like his daddy,” he said softly.

“We should get something to eat,” Danny told him. “You need to keep your strength up and I haven’t eaten in… wow, twenty seven hours.”

“I don’t want to leave him.”

“I know, but he’s not going anywhere.”

Steve sighed and craned his neck to look up at Danny. “What if he wakes up while we’re gone?”

“Here.”

Steve looked over to see the nurse from earlier handing him a small black phone. He took it, “what’s this?” he asked.

“We have these exclusively for parents of babies in the NICU,” she told him. “You can’t stay in here forever, you need to eat and rest. I’ll call you on that phone if his condition changes at all.”

Steve nodded, “thank you.”

“It doesn’t have a huge range, I’d say it won’t reach beyond probably a half mile radius around the hospital, so stay close.”

“We’re not leaving,” Danny said quickly. “We just need to grab a bite, and I need coffee.”

“The cafeteria is down on level one, the food’s not to bad actually. I usually spend whatever lunch break I can manage to get in there.”

Steve smiled at her. “Watch out for him while we’re away?”

“You know I will Commander.”

“Call me Steve.”

She smiled at them and Danny pushed Steve away from their son and out of the room.

\---

Steve looked at the salad and soda Danny had brought him. His body was giving him all the signs that he was hungry, his stomach was growling loudly but he didn’t have an appetite. It looked like Danny was feeling the same; his ham and Swiss sandwich sat untouched in front of him. 

“Kono was at Keli’i’s,” Steve said finally, because the silence was just too much to handle.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “She said she had a weird dream, and when she woke up she had a strong urge to call us. I had my phone on vibrate but I ignored it.”

“You told her to call everyone.”

“I did, but that was before I knew they weren’t going to let me in the room with you.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Steve whispered, remembering how it felt to see Danny pushed away from him and the door closing between them. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Danny told him. “Keli’i explained it to me later. He said it would have taken too much time to get me scrubbed up and ready to be in there too. He also said you bled a lot, and I wouldn’t have wanted to see that.”

“Still, I can’t imagine what it must have been like to know what was happening and not be able to be there.” 

Danny nodded sadly and sighed. “It was awful, Steve. If it hadn’t been for Kono… I’m not sure what would have happened to me. I was crazy, I was bawling like a baby, calling your name, cursing Keli’i. I think I even threatened to blow the place up if they didn’t let me see you. I finally ran out of steam and fell into a chair, I felt hopeless, useless. Kono sat with me, petted my shoulders, let me cry in her lap. It was… embarrassing.”

“She understood, I’m sure she did.”

“Of course she did, but there were a hundred things I could have been doing to be of more help. She called Mary, and Rachel, the rest of the team and even my parents, who weren’t at the shower, by the way so I need to remember to reprimand her for that.”

“You can’t, it wasn’t work related.”

“I don’t care. She told me that my mother thinks you’re a woman named Stephanie and that as soon as we’re both feeling up to it, we should call her so she and the family can come down.”

“We should do that.”

“No, Steve, we absolutely shouldn’t. You’ve met Mattie, aside from me; he’s the sanest one of the bunch. Not to mention, Grandma would probably have a heart attack when she realizes that the mother of my second child is a six foot tall muscular Navy SEAL and most definitely not a woman.”

“Everyone has their flaws.”

Danny laughed briefly and shook his head. 

They were quiet for a long time, each looking at their food but not touching it. Finally, Steve looked up at Danny, “did Mary come to the hospital while I was… out?”

Danny shook his head. “I called her after you were in the room and Declan was taken to the hospital. She said she couldn’t deal with seeing him if… she said… she said she didn’t want to see you hurting.”

“If what, Danny? You said she didn’t want to see him if… if what?”

Danny shook his head. “She’s worried about you, she doesn’t like to see you hurt.”

“If he died, right?” Steve asked, his voice broken. “She said she didn’t want to see him if he was going to die.”

“He’s not going to die, Steve. We’ve been over this.”

“Is that what she said or not, Danny?”

Danny nodded and pushed his tray away, “Yeah, that’s what she said.”

Steve blew out a breath and pushed his food away as well. “I want to go back upstairs, I don’t want to be away from him for too long.”

Danny nodded and got up. They left their uneaten food on the table.

\---

Chin and Kono were standing in the hall when they got back up to the third floor.

“Hey,” Chin greeted them as they approached.

“How is he?” Kono asked.

Steve nodded. “They say his heart sounds strong and that the breathing tube is just to help him. That he’s doing most of the breathing on his own, but it doesn’t look like that.”

“He’s so small,” Danny told them. “He’s bigger than your hand, but not by much.”

“Jenna and I have been doing some research,” Kono spoke softly. “Everything we’ve found says that babies born at thirty four weeks have a high rate of survival. They’re small, and have a rough start, but they’ve been able to develop almost completely inside.”

“He’s strong,” Chin said and clapped Steve and Danny both gently on the shoulders. “He’ll be alright.”

“We know,” Steve said and looked at the door. “We should go inside.”

“Tell him that his Auntie Kono and Uncle Chin are out here rooting for him.”

“We will,” Danny said.

Their phone rang before they even made it to the door, and Danny pushed Steve faster.

“We’re here,” Steve said, “What’s wrong?”

“His eyes are open,” the young nurse said as they hurried over to Declan. 

“He’s got your eyes, Danno,” Steve said as he looked at the tiny blue eyes that were staring out at them. 

Declan blinked and yawned, then his eyes closed, but while they were open, they hadn’t wandered from Steve and Danny.

“He’s going to be okay,” Steve said, and for the first time since he woke up in Keli’i’s clinic, he really believed it. 

“He’s going to be okay,” Danny agreed.

\---

EPILOGUE

The house was filled with family and friends. Mary had flown in from LA and Danny’s entire extended family had come from New Jersey. Grace was there of course, and Rachel and Stan were guarding Oliver and George as if they were made of gold and diamonds, swatting away every hand that even thought about getting near them. Steve couldn’t blame them; a year ago he’d have done the same thing.

“Where the hell is he?” Danny shouted and the room went still. “Steve, I can’t find Declan.”

“Well fuck, Danny, he can’t have gone far, he just learned to walk a week ago.”

“Yes, Steven, but like everything else he’s ever learned to do, he took to it like a duck to water.”

“I bet he’s playing hide and seek,” Mary supplied helpfully. “Steve loved that game when we were kids.”

“He’s one year old, Mary,” Steve told her. “He doesn’t even know what hide and seek is.”

“You underestimate the mind of a McGarrett, Steve,” she said happily. Then her call of “Ready or not, here I come,” was met with an ear piercing shriek and giddy toddler laughter. 

“Oh my God,” Danny said and cupped his head in his hands. “We found his first birth defect… he’s a freak.”

“Daniel! That’s my great grandson you’re insulting,” Grandma Williams, who absolutely did not have a heart attack when she found out about Steve, but rather regaled them all with tales of her own homosexual encounter in vivid detail, said. 

“Yes, grandma, and he’s my son, I can call him a freak if I want to.”

“That’s enough,” Steve said. He stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. Declan Kanoa Williams, front a center young man,” he shouted. 

“Found him!” Mary called as Declan crawled out from under the table cloth.

“He was right there the whole time,” Kono said through her laughter, pointing at the table they were all surrounding. 

“Come on big guy,” Steve said as he scooped the toddler into his arms. “It’s time for cake and ice cream.”

“It’s pistachio flavored,” Rachel sang sweetly. 

“I love you a little more each day,” Steve said with a wink in her direction.

Steve silenced the room with another whistle and leaned over the cake. “Alright buddy, blow out your candle.”

“Do it like we practiced,” Grace whispered loudly from beside Danny.

Declan looked at Grace then back to the cake and proceeded to blow the biggest raspberry any of them had ever seen. 

Grace laughed so hard she almost fell down, and somewhere between her hitched breaths she told them that she’d told Rachel to buy a second cake.

“It’s _my_ fault,” Danny said as if he’d just had a revelation. “They’re both freaks so it’s my fault.”

“We already knew that, babe,” Steve said and kissed Danny firmly on the mouth. “But you know, to look at him now, you’d never know that a year ago he weighed four and a half pounds and couldn’t breathe on his own.”

Danny smiled and took Declan from Steve, kissing the boy’s head before passing him off to the other waiting arms. “Happy birthday, Declan,” he said.

“You’ve earned it,” Steve added as he melted into Danny’s side to watch their son be handed around the room. He couldn’t keep his eyes from welling up as he thought back to those nights they’d spent in the NICU. He’d been so small, but he’d fought so hard, and now their son was a year old and surrounded by people who loved him.

Steve smiled as he looked at Danny, and wondered when he should tell him that they were expecting baby number two. Not yet, he decided, this was Declan’s day, and Danny would guess the first time Steve threw up. He chuckled and looked back out at the small sea of people and listened to the string of birthday wishes.

“What?” Danny asked.

“Nothing,” Steve replied, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. 

The End


End file.
